


Sibling Triflry

by Andromedanewton



Series: Anita Blake (My Minor Canon-Divergence) [3]
Category: Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter - Laurell K. Hamilton
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, I will add tags if I think I missed them, Minor canon divergence, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-26
Updated: 2016-07-17
Packaged: 2018-07-18 08:04:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 25
Words: 51,648
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7306732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Andromedanewton/pseuds/Andromedanewton
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Anita's time off is hijacked by the sudden arrival of a very drunk family member with some stupid career ideas.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Here we are again! The beginning of another story! Sibling Trifly is the third out of four stories I have written in this series and once again sees Anita put in an awkward situation or two because of her family, although in this one it is obviously just one member!
> 
> Fabulously long first chapter too, with SMUT (oh those lilac eyes) and plot! Wow, that's something!
> 
> Hope you enjoy the story! I will, as always, post one chapter a day, two if a chapter is particularly short!
> 
> Positive feedback is always appreciated!

The evening had started so promisingly. It was Saturday night, I had one raising which had gone without a hitch and was home by seven thirty to get changed for my date with Nathaniel, and then one whole glorious week without having to work. Sure I’d still be on call to RPIT, as a Federal Marshal I was never really off duty, but no having to go down to the Animators Inc offices, no smiling sympathetically at clients and no standing out in the freezing November cold raising the dead. One whole week just lazing around with my various men. Oh yeah, I was looking forward to it alright.  
Nathaniel met me just inside the front door with a soft, lingering kiss that set my pulse racing. He leant back just far enough that I was treated to a close up of his dazzling lilac eyes.  
“We have a reservation to meet.” He said softly.  
“Damn reservation.” I smiled.  
“Go get changed.” He stepped aside but his hand lingered on my back as I stepped towards the stairs.  
“Micah got away on time?”  
“Just.” Nathaniel called after me as I went up the stairs. “He should get to the coalition meeting with about five minutes to spare.”  
“I still don’t like missing the meeting.” I called from the bedroom and Nathaniel even answered but I couldn’t hear him properly. “Hold on.” I called and concentrated on getting changed. I stripped out of my pants suit and put on my new cream blouse. It wasn’t a colour I wore often but I’d love the shirt on sight, so much that I’d bought both the cream and black one. It was Victorian style with a high collar and decorative lace panels up the front. I’d long since given up wearing dresses for any occasion other than official vampire shit I had no choice in. There just wasn’t anywhere to put a gun for easy access, let alone a shoulder holster. Oh except one dress I owned; a black button up with integral belt but I’d been assured that it wasn’t dressy enough for this evening. I slid on my stay ups, Nathaniel's preference as it was his night, then my skirt suit. The jacket was a short one, resting just below my waist and tailored to within an inch of its life to conceal the shoulder rig. The skirt came above my knees and was flared enough that if I turned just right Nathaniel would get glimpses of lace. He’d like that. I checked my make up was still intact and after reapplying lipstick and running wet fingers through my slightly weather worn hair I was back on the stairs.  
“You look lovely.” Nathaniel said from where he stood at the bottom and I got the chance to take in his appearance. He looked sharp in his tailored grey suit and the lilac shirt and matching shimmery tie accentuated his eyes, making them sparkle more than usual. His hair was caught back in a loose ponytail meaning the few shorter strands that didn’t reach his ankles hung loose around his face and shoulders. I realise I’d stopped to stare and shook my head slightly as I carried on down.  
“I didn’t hear what you said.”  
“About?” He held my duster coat out for me.  
“About missing the meeting.”  
“Oh. I said Micah and Richard both said it was going to be straightforward and that it could also be part of your vacation time.”  
“Yeah, that’s what they told me too.” I bowed my head allowing Nathaniel to untuck my hair and shuddered as his fingers brushed my neck. I knew what I wanted for dessert already. “I don’t like missing a meeting when the coalition is still in its infancy.” I took the car keys out of my pocket and handed them to Nathaniel. He was driving tonight. In fact most of tonight was his doing.  
“It’s just to discuss if any of them have any issues so far, Anita. It’s not going to be a full on debate, not if you’re not there.”  
I cast him a frown in the dark. I couldn’t be too mad, not when it was true. I had a habit of starting an argument; or rather a debate as Nathaniel put it, when there wasn’t any need, not really.  
Nathaniel drove to the restaurant he had chosen, a rather nice upmarket place that he’d assured me did a good steak. We had a table at the back where I could see all the exits and it was cosy and intimate; none of the staff were too overbearing, the lighting was light enough to see what you were eating but dim enough to set an atmosphere and the tables were well spaced. But then looking at the prices you knew they didn’t have to pack the place to turn a tidy profit.   
We both passed on the appetiser going straight for their speciality main course; the most expensive fillet steak I had ever ordered on a bed of ribboned vegetables with a truffle sauce. It was good, I even took it medium as recommended instead of my normal well done. Our plates had just been cleared and we were murmuring softly to one another. Nathaniel had taken my hand in his and was just kissing my wrist softly when he looked in the mirror on the wall behind me, his eyes going wide.  
“What’s wrong?” I asked quietly.  
“The guy in the blue suit.” He remained frozen, only his lips moving.   
I looked over his shoulder and sure enough a guy in a blue suit was making his way towards us. He wasn’t coming too quickly and he was smiling which I thought should have been a good thing but the look on Nathaniel’s face was anything but.   
“Nathaniel let go of my hand.” He had hold of my right which meant if I need to go for the Browning I was screwed. He did let go but more his hand slumped limply to his side as I took mine back. This guy really was bothering him which made me dislike him instinctively. He was perhaps six foot and quite well built. His face was lined but handsome, I put him at about forty, with blonde hair that I suspected was out of a bottle and a tan that at this time of year could only have come also from a bottle or a booth. “Should I be reaching for the Browning?”  
“No.” Nathaniel whispered. “I don’t think so but…” he swallowed hard. “He’s an ex-client. Not a nice guy to be stuck in a locked room with.” He paled as he said it.  
“Don’t worry, Nathaniel.” I tried to reassure him as the guy got to within one table of us.  
“I know you’ll look after me.” He offered me a weak smile. “But the memory is still fresh, no matter how long ago it was.” I offered him my left hand across the table and he took it in a tight grip.  
The guy reached the table and smiled even broader at Nathaniel. He didn’t even glance at me. “Nathaniel. I was wondering what had happened to you.”  
“Hi, Daniel.” Nathaniel said weakly.  
“I was starting to think you’d gone away.”  
“I moved.”   
Daniel turned his slimy eyes on me. “Worth his weight in gold, isn’t he?”  
“I’m sorry but we’re in the middle of something, do you mind leaving?” I kept my voice level, not unfriendly but I sure didn’t put out the welcome mat either.  
“This will just take a moment.” His smile slipped to an unpleasant snarl. “Nathaniel, you call me. You know my number.” He turned to leave.  
“He won’t be calling you.” I said and he turned to face me fully.  
“What are you, his keeper?” Oh this man was a bully and poor little five foot three me was meant to be scared.  
I took my hand back and stood up to face him. “What’s it to you?”  
“You know all your boyfriends little secrets then?” He sneered.  
“All I need to know.”  
“Then you know he used to be a whore?” He said loud enough for the whole restaurant to hear.  
“And what? You were trying to pick him up?” I raised my eyebrows.   
“He used to do things to me that…”  
“Are you trying to hire him?” I interrupted.  
“I’d hire him again. And he wouldn’t say no.” He bent forward as he said it with a nasty smile on his face.  
“Well that’s all I needed to hear.” I shrugged and pulled my marshal badge out of my pocket. “You’re under arrest for soliciting, although I’m not sure that’s the right phrase in this case. I can’t say its kerb crawling, now can I? No kerb.”  
He started to laugh and I held the badge higher. That stopped him. He looked down at Nathaniel. “You’re dating a federal marshal?”  
“I live with her too.” Nathaniel smiled. He seemed pleased as punch I’d defended his honour and it was good to see a smile back on his lips.  
Thirty minutes later however I was trying to explain to Zebrowski why I’d arrested someone when it had nothing to do with a preternatural crime.  
“Come on, Zebrowski, the whole restaurant heard the guy say he was trying to hire Nathaniel for sex! That’s illegal! If he was in a car it’d be kerb crawling!”  
“Blake, I’m not denying that you have a case here, that the arrest will even stand because of all the witness testimony, but did you have to? I mean anyone else would have bawled the guy out, told him to fuck off, but you arrested him!”  
We were outside and arguing in front of the restaurant where some of the plain clothes officers who had been brought in to take statements were flitting in and out. They thought it was hilarious.  
“Alright, let him go, see if I give a flying fuck, but if he shows up anywhere near Nathaniel again I’ll kick his ass!”  
Zebrowski groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Go home, Anita. Go wherever you were going with Graison, just go.”  
I looked over to where Nathaniel was stood by the restaurant entrance, his hands in his pockets, looking down at his shoes. He looked like he thought he was in trouble. I sighed. So much for our date. “Goodnight, Zebrowski. You know how to reach me.” And I walked over to where Nathaniel stood. “Hey.” I said quietly.  
He looked up at me through his loose strands of hair. “I’m sorry.”  
“You’re sorry?” I couldn’t believe he was blaming himself. “Nathaniel, its not…” I glanced around. “Let’s get out of here. We can talk in the car.”  
He nodded and we walked to the parking lot. No more valet parking for us. Our keys had been returned pretty promptly.  
We were well on the road before I spoke. I’d been mulling it over in my head, what I was going to say. Nathaniel blamed himself when it was all circumstances fault. Sure I could have said yeah, I was Nathaniel's keeper and got rid of the guy but our relationship had gone way beyond a point where I was just his keeper. I could have warned the guy I was a Fed and told him to take a ride, but I hadn’t. I’d wanted to protect Nathaniel from him, wanted to defend his honour, to make him feel safe, that I’d always protect him. But I couldn’t protect him from his past, from the memories this guy had invoked. I could take his mind off it though, I hoped.  
“Let’s go get some dessert.” I said.  
Nathaniel glanced at me in the half light cast by the street lamps we passed. “Dessert?”  
“Sure.” I smiled at him. “The date’s not over, is it?”  
“I guess not.” He sounded a little surprised.  
“We have the best three courses to go.”  
“Three?”  
“Sure. Dessert, coffee and the all important second dessert when we get home.”  
He laughed quietly and I felt some of the tension he’d been radiating leave him. “I love you, Anita.”  
“I love you too, Nathaniel. And I’m sorry I made a scene at the restaurant.”  
“You are?”  
“Yeah. I’m not sorry I arrested that shit but I am sorry for the scene and ensuing circus.”  
“I love the fact you stick up for me.” He smiled while watching the road.  
“I don’t want you to be afraid of anyone from your past, Nathaniel.” I said softly.  
“I’m not, not really.” He shrugged. “Not when I know you’re watching out for me. I just wasn’t expecting to see Daniel tonight. It knocked me for a roll.”  
“If anything like that ever happens again I want you to tell me.” He was quiet for too long. “It’s happened before, hasn’t it?”  
“A couple of times.” He said dismissively. “But I’ve managed to put them off. Told them that I don’t do it anymore. Or if they’re insistent Jean Claude talks to them.”  
“Jean Claude does?” This was news to me.  
“Mostly it happens at Guilty Pleasures. Everyone knows he’s the boss.” He laughed as he thought about it. “Depending on the person he tells them it’ll cost some ridiculous sum or something else.” I didn’t know what the something else was. “It’s okay, Anita. It really is.”  
I sighed. “I’ll take your word for that.”  
We stopped for dessert at an ice cream parlour. We shared a sundae with hot fudge sauce, whipped cream and one spoon. By the time we moved on to a coffee house for our next course the atmosphere was just about back to where we’d been interrupted and by the time we got home we were way beyond it.  
The front door was barely open when I pulled Nathaniel to me by his tie and kissed him, kissed him until he growled against my mouth, his hands sliding down to my thighs and lifting me. I wrapped my legs around him and found him already pressed hard and straining against his pants. He started to walk us towards the stairs as I bit playfully at his bottom lip. I murmured as his tongue flicked over my lips and he missed his footing on the bottom step, sending me back onto the stairs with him on top of me. A moment of discomfort was replaced by the feel of him pressed hard against me.  
I moved my hands to push off his jacket as one of his hands started on my buttons, the other holding him up off me. He stopped long enough to remove his jacket then kissed me strong enough to make me raise my hips off the stair and harder against him. He moved one knee to rest on the stairs as he worked on my buttons with both hands, finally sliding the jacket, shoulder holster and shirt off in one go.  
“We’re not going to make the bedroom, are we?” He whispered as my hands worked on his pants.  
“You think?” I asked and cupped him in my hand. He threw his head back and groaned, his groin falling back against my own, trapping my hand between us. “Next time we get undressed before this point.” I whispered breathlessly.   
Nathaniel nodded and stood, pulling off his shirt and tie as I finished pushing his pants down, my finger trailing over his ass then grasping tightly with my nails. He groaned above me and quickly removed his remaining clothes. I caressed him again as his hands pushed up my skirt, his fingers hooking in the top of my underwear as my hands ran the length of him, so smooth and yet so hard.  
He removed my underwear and wrapped his left arm around my waist, kissing me as he rested his lower body against mine far more gently than I was expecting. I pressed myself against him as his tongue explored me. He moved to trail kisses across my jaw, down my neck and nipped at my collarbone, making me moan. He continued his way down to my breast and ran his tongue over my already taut nipple. I gasped as he slid his finger inside me.  
“So wet.” He murmured and as though to make the point he slid his finger over my most sensitive spot as he took my nipple and a good deal of my breast into his mouth. His arm continued to support my back as I arched against his hand and mouth, both of which were starting the familiar warmth spreading low and deep within me. Nathaniel’s fingers moved faster against me as he teased my nipple with his tongue, one of my hands convulsing on the stair post, the other tangled in his hair. I started to gasp but the orgasm took me turning it into a cry, my head thrown back. I shuddered as he released my breast, immediately claiming my mouth and pushing his way inside me. I spasmed in mini orgasm at the feel of him, my hand moving from the stair post to his shoulder and realised at some point he’d remembered to apply a condom to the equation. Sensible man.   
Nathaniel moved his knees to a stair and I tucked my legs around his thighs, resting my heels on his calves as he started a slow rhythm, going deep and low as he moved inside me, going higher as he moved away so each stroke caressed a different part of me.  
Sometimes it unnerved me, the control Nathaniel had, the wealth of knowledge of potential places and things that would make me cry out his name. This however wasn’t one of those times as his lips brushed teasingly against mine then moved back from me preventing me from kissing him but two could play at that game…I pushed the heels of my shoes down into his calves and he gasped, losing his rhythm for a moment but he soon recovered and as his own revenge sped up, slamming hard into me making starbursts appear in my vision.  
“Please, Nathaniel.” I gasped into his mouth and kissed him, kissed him hard until I felt our teeth through our lips, my hands convulsing across his shoulders and back and I knew when I’d caused him pain, his whimper against my lips only feeding the growing heat within me which in turn reminded me the ardeur was lurking, waiting for me to free it to feed.  
I freed it in a rush that encompassed us both making us tear our lips from one another and cry out. Nathaniel’s spasms met my own and we convulsed together for endless moments.  
I knew we would leave at least a damp patch, the warm liquid already cooling on my thighs as he lay against me lightly and rested his head against mine, his hair mixing with my own damp curls.  
“I love you.” He whispered and kissed me softly.  
“I love you too.” I said when we parted.  
“But?” He frowned.  
“But the endorphins are wearing off and the stairs really aren’t very comfortable.”  
He laughed and it made me spasm around him which in turn made him gasp. “Don’t do that.” He laughed slightly.  
“Then get out of the pool before you laugh hard.” I raised my eyebrows at him.  
He did as I asked and I sat up as he sat on the step beside me, trying to make sense out of the tangle of clothes. I finally kicked off my shoes and wiggled my toes. No matter how nice high heels made me look they didn’t compare to my Nikes for comfort.  
“Great date, Nathaniel.” I leant over and kissed his shoulder. “Besides dinner.”  
“Dinner was good too.” He smiled. “It was just the uninvited guest that put a dampener on things.”  
I rested my head on his shoulder. “I’m not sure I can move far yet but the wet patch is getting cold.” He laughed again and I smiled. It was one of my favourite sounds. Then came one of my least favourite sounds, at least at times like this. My cell phone started to ring. “Shit.” I said with feeling and started hunting through clothes.  
“Where was it?” Nathaniel asked.  
“Jacket pocket.” I found it first and hit the answer button. “Blake.”  
“Anita.”  
“Richard? The meeting over?” I asked.  
“Yeah but can you come down to The Lunatic Cafe?”  
“Micah…” I started.  
“Micah’s fine. He left about ten minutes ago but…I need you to come down.”  
That made me frown. “Alright. Is it urgent?”  
“Not desperately but as soon as would be good.”  
I sighed. “Okay. Give me ten minutes and I’ll be on my way.”  
“See you then.” And he hung up.  
“Use the downstairs bathroom.” Nathaniel said and started shakily up the stairs with our clothes in his arms. “I’ll bring you jeans and a shirt.”  
“Thanks.” I smiled and slapped him on the ass as he passed. I took the Browning out of the holster that hung around my waist and made my way to the downstairs bathroom. I stripped off and cleaned up and took the clothes from Nathaniel when he knocked. He’d also included a change of underwear, socks, Nikes and my Firestar and Uncle Mike’s inner pants holster.  
“You wanna come?” I asked as I slipped on my underwear.  
“Sure. But what about Micah?”  
“Call his cell. If we don’t speak to him before we leave we’ll leave him a note.”  
Nathaniel nodded and left to make the call and get dressed I hoped.  
“No answer.” Nathaniel said when I met him in the kitchen a few minutes later. He was writing on the pad we kept by the phone and thankfully was wearing jeans and a t-shirt.  
“We’ll keep trying en route.” I said slipping on my duster which was slightly crumpled.  
En route is what we were minutes later and by the time we reached The Lunatic Cafe we still hadn’t been able to reach him. I hoped it wasn’t some kind of emergency Richard had because if it was I’d like Micah at my back. But Richard said it wasn’t so…I really hoped it wasn’t.  
The parking lot was full and the bar more so, as if each of the cars had carried three or more people. The hum of energy reached us as we crossed the threshold as did the buzz of noise. I glanced around and recognised a few faces but it was Jamil who made eye contact, nodded and came towards us.  
“Richard is waiting for you.” He said simply and led us down the staff only corridor without another word. I knew when Richard sensed I was near and got a warm rush, the scent of autumn leaves, the lukoi, before Richard realised what he was doing and closed his shields just enough to stop himself projecting. The door to his office opened and he came out. His hair was once again brushing his ears in a golden brown fall. He was wearing a forest green shirt and blue jeans. He shut the door behind him.  
“Thanks for coming down.” He nodded to Jamil and he left us.  
“What’s going on?” I frowned.  
He sighed and ran his hand through his hair. “The meeting finished, everyone left and about ten minutes later I went through to the bar.” He reached behind him and put his hand on the door knob. “He and his friend were pretty wasted, and I know he’s illegal so…” he pushed the door open, “I called you.”  
There at the desk sat my seventeen year old half brother, Josh, rosy cheeked and grinning inanely.  
“Josh?” My mouth fell open.  
“Anita!” He tried to stand but was incredibly unsteady. He made it upright on his second attempt and outstretched his arms as though to hug me but he was still too far away. He pin balled his way around the furniture until he reached us and he flung his arms around me in a tight hug. He smelt bad. Slightly sweaty, overpoweringly of alcohol and perhaps even a little vomit. I pushed him off me gently, not wanting him to fall, and scowled at him.  
“What the hell have you been drinking?”  
“It was Martin’s birthday.” He grinned.  
“So, what, you decided to come to the city, get shit face and hang out at a lycanthrope bar?” I asked in disbelief.   
He noticed Nathaniel behind me and he lurched towards him. “Nathaniel!” He slung an arm around his shoulder and looked at Richard. “This guys is soooo cool! He’s a stripper you know? And he’s a lyca…lyca…cat! How awesome is that? Go on, do that thing!”  
“What?” Nathaniel glanced at me, wrinkling his nose. The smell must have been so much worse for him and Richard.  
“That thing, where you go all funky, and the fur and…say meow!”  
“Erm, meow?” Nathaniel looked at me imploringly.  
“Your people didn’t serve him?” I asked Richard.  
“No.” He shook his head. “That was the only reason I noticed him. His buddy was arguing with the barmen.”  
“What happened to his buddy?”  
“His dad picked him up about two minutes before you got here.”  
“Geez.” I shook my head and Josh bumped into me as he moved to Richard, patting him on the chest then pointing at me.  
“My sister, she’s magic!” He gesticulated wildly. “She can do all this stuff Mom doesn’t want me to know about but she’s awesome! Why didn’t you marry her?” He frowned at Richard who in turn raised his eyebrows at me.  
“Can you take him home?”  
I sighed. “Sure. I’ll call Dad and let him know where he is.”  
“She’s great and you two were such a great couple!” He poked Richard in the chest. “Why didn’t you marry her? She too good for you? Huh?”  
I rolled my eyes and grabbed Josh’s hand away from Richard. “Ohhhh-kay. C’mon, Josh. Let’s go let you sleep it off.”  
“I’ll get you a bucket.” Richard went for the door. “And you might want to get some aspirin on your way home.”  
We got the aspirin and Josh used the bucket. It wasn’t pretty. Despite the cold we drove with the windows open to get rid of the smell. By the time we got home Josh was at the crying stage, which Nathaniel assured me was normal. Micah’s car was in the driveway and the downstairs lights were on. He’d waited up, I’d bet.  
Nathaniel held the door as I helped Josh across the threshold, Josh having decided only his sis could hear what he had to say despite his talking at high volume.  
“You’re so clever and smart and special.” He was going on. “Mom hates what you do but I’m so damn proud! I’d love to be part of this!” He flung his arms wide and I had to duck to save from being swiped.  
Micah came out of the living room wearing only jeans and a puzzled expression. “Is that Josh?”  
“Yeah.” I was steadying Josh as he rocked back and forth.  
“I thought you went down to see Richard?”  
“Micah!” Josh seemed to finally see him and grinned. “You know you’re really short but…” he paused, “I’m gonna puke.”  
“I’m on it.” Nathaniel said from behind me and ushered Josh quickly into the downstairs bathroom.   
I closed my eyes, pinched the bridge of my nose and sighed. I felt Micah move up in front of me and I leant into his hand just before he touched my cheek. He moved my hand from my nose and kissed me softly then rested his forehead against mine. I opened my eyes so I could look into his. Even in the half light they seemed to glow.  
“So how did you get from going to see Richard to bringing Josh home in a state normally reserved for college kids or people trying to forget a problem?”  
“Coffee first.”  
“You shouldn’t have it so close to bedtime.” He said but moved up beside me and took my hand anyway.   
“I’m not sure I’m going to get to bed any time soon. Not with Josh in that state.”  
Micah smiled at me. “You don’t drink. Trust me, he’ll sleep and soon. Once he’s done in the bathroom we’ll make him drink a large glass of water and send him off to bed with a bowl, just in case. It’s a shame we don’t have any aspirin.”  
“Tada.” I pulled the box out of my pocket and threw it on the counter. “Richard mentioned them.”  
“Have a hot chocolate.” Micah suggested. “Josh will probably sleep late and that means we can get a good rest too.”  
I screwed up my nose. I didn’t want hot chocolate, I wanted coffee. Coffee was a comfort food. Whatever happened I could generally count on being able to get a hot cup of coffee at some point. I wasn’t thirsty I just wanted my warm, caffeinated buddy to make me feel better. “I’ll pass.” I said finally, “I’d rather have nothing.”  
He narrowed his eyes at me but smiled just the same. “I’ll get some water.”  
I shrugged out of my coat and threw it over the back of one of the chairs. “How did the meeting go?”  
“Boring, actually.” He started to run the tap so it would be good and cold. “No one had any issues, a few more alphas have volunteered. It’s going well. Only something you said in jest could work out so well.” He grinned at me.  
I heard the bathroom door open closely followed by a groan. I opened the packet of aspirin and popped two out, setting them by the glass of water Micah had just placed on the counter. Josh looked like death. He was pale with grey smudges under his eyes and he squinted even against the meagre light given by the cooker hood.  
“Take them, drink that.” I said, pointing to each item in turn then folding my arms under my breasts.  
“I can’t.” He moaned.  
“You’d better or I’ll force them down your throat.”  
“What Anita means is they’ll make you feel better.” Nathaniel said from beside him.  
“Yeah but pissing with me won’t.” Josh picked up the pills and after breaking each one in half, something I blame Judith for, babying him, he took them then put down the glass. “All of it.” He groaned but did it anyway.  
“Now, bed.” Nathaniel said and started manoeuvring him out.  
“Here, Nathaniel.” Micah handed him the bucket we kept under the sink.  
“Thanks.” Nathaniel wrinkled his nose and it dawned on me how bad the smell in the bathroom must have been on his sensitive nose.  
“I’ll take him.” I stepped forward. They all looked at me in surprise. “He’s my brother, I’ll do it.”  
“Anita, how many drunken men have you put to bed?” Nathaniel asked and I frowned. He knew the answer was none. “I’ll take him.” He smiled and off they went.  
“Not to force the point but how did you get from Richard to Josh?” Micah asked.  
“Richard called me to The Lunatic Cafe. Josh and his pal were trying to get served.”  
After clicking off the light he moved up beside me and, putting his arm around me, started guiding me towards the stairs.  
“And Richard recognised him. Doesn’t seem like he had any trouble getting served elsewhere.”  
I shook my head. “You know, I can’t wait to hear the story behind this.”  
“Don’t let it keep you awake.” He kissed the side of my head.  
“After tonight I’m not even sure a gang of rampaging vamps could keep me awake.”  
“Tonight was good then?” He raised an eyebrow and I thought back to the date.  
“Good in parts. It’s kind of a long story but it will have to wait. I still have to call my dad.”   
I sat on the side of the bed, took a deep breath and dialled the number. It was late and if they weren’t up worrying about Josh they’d be asleep. I wasn’t sure which I was hoping for most.  
“Hello?” Came the not so pleasantly toned sleepy voice of Judith, my stepmom. Suddenly I didn’t feel so bad about calling at this hour.  
“Judith, its Anita.”  
“It’s for you.” She mumbled and I assumed handed the phone to Dad.  
“Hello?” Sleepy Dad this time.  
“Hi, Dad.”  
“Anita? What’s wrong?”  
“I…well…Josh is here.”  
“Where?” He sounded awake now.  
“In my spare room.” I sighed. “He’s loaded.”  
“Loaded? As in…”  
“Drunk.”  
He sighed. “He was meant to be staying with his friend.”  
“Martin, yeah, I know. His folks came and picked him up.”  
“How did you get called for Josh?”  
It was my turn to sigh again. I couldn’t mention Richard, just in case it got out about The Lunatic Cafe being a lycanthrope place. “The bar they were at, it’s run by some friends of mine. One of them recognised him.”  
“He’s not met many of your friends. Which one was it?”   
“That’s not important.” I shook my head. “He’s here, he’s safe. I didn’t want you to worry.”  
“He’s meant to be away all weekend. Judith and I had plans. We’ll come get him tomorrow.”  
“No, Dad, don’t spoil your plans. I can hang onto him for another day. I'll even slap him around a little if you want me to, knock some sense into him.” I put some teasing in my voice to try and take the worry out of his. He was still my dad and after his heart attack last month, which I caused, I didn’t want him worried.  
“Anita, that’s a lovely sentiment but…”  
“I won’t let him get into any trouble, Dad. I’ll keep him away from as many preternaturals as I can, then you and Judith can have your day out. I’ll bring him home on Monday.”  
He sighed again. “Alright. Just…keep him safe…and tell him he’s in trouble.”  
“I will, Dad. Goodnight.” And I rang off.  
“We’re keeping him for a day?” Micah asked and I struggled to maintain eye contact with him that naked beside me.  
“Yeah. Dad didn’t seem keen and I know Judith would have said no if she hadn’t handed me straight over to Dad but she lost her choice.” I shrugged. “I just have to keep him out of trouble.”  
“You do that well.”  
I laughed. “No, I don’t. I attract it.”  
“Maybe we should just keep him away from you then.” He winked.  
“That kinda defeats the purpose.”  
“Then we’ll all just have a lazy Sunday, a roast as Nathaniel had planned, and do not a lot other than laugh at how green Josh is. Now how about you tell me about your date?”  
By the time Nathaniel joined us in bed I’d told Micah about the restaurant and was snuggled down tight among the covers…until I remembered the vomit filled bucket outside the front door, and decided it was Josh’s responsibility to clean it out. I fell asleep with an evil smile on my face.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Josh reveals his stupid, not great, worst ever idea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow the chapters in this one are looooooong! I'm sure no one will mind though!

I woke up lying on my back. I lay there for a moment, eyes closed and realised that one of the men had gone; Micah. Nathaniel was still beside me and as if on cue a soft kiss was planted on my forehead. I opened my eyes and found Nathaniel hadn’t moved too far back. He was propped on his elbow and smiling down at me. “Coffee’s on.”  
“Yummy.” I said smiling.  
“We know you love your coffee.”  
“I meant you.” I leant up and kissed him gently. “But yeah, I do like my coffee.”  
He stretched and gracefully moved as he did so, seamlessly, so I didn’t realise he was going to straddle me until he was nearly there.  
“Micah heard Josh moving around so he got up and checked on him then went to make coffee.” He leant over me. “Strong, fresh, hot coffee.”  
“You’re making it sound like a turn on.” I raised my eyebrows.  
“Is it working?” He wiggled his eyebrows and I laughed.  
“It's not coffee that gets me hot and you know it.” And I spun him quickly so I was on top. Judo wasn’t only good as self defence. “I’d love to jump you now, but I have to go give my brother a bitchslapping.”  
“Lucky bastard.” He grinned. I chuckled and slid off him, dragging my nails across his chest as I went, leaving red lines.  
I showered first then dressed and got armed. Nathaniel hopped in the shower straight after me and I left him to dry his hair; that would take another thirty minutes anyway. In truth I’d forgotten about Josh until Nathaniel mentioned him. I thought about the state he was in as I showered and by the time I trotted down the stairs I was unhappy with him again.   
Josh was sitting at the table in the alcove, nursing a cup of coffee and his head. He was wearing Nathaniel’s robe, not a bad thing given how tall he was, Nathaniel’s was the only one tall enough that his robe would cover below the knee apart from Damian.  
Micah came around the counter, just wearing his jeans again, and handed me a coffee. He smiled and rested his hand on my arm. “Go easy on him.”  
I glanced at Josh and the pathetic look on his face then back to Micah. I kissed him on the cheek. “No.” I said and moved on to Josh. “Move.”  
“What?” He looked up at me, his eyes were barely open and he looked pale.  
“Move there.” I pointed to the seat around the corner from where he was sitting, the one in direct sunlight, the harsh, bright, winter sunlight. He groaned but moved and squinted all the more. I sat in the seat he’d just vacated and stared at him for a moment. “I called Dad last night.”  
His eyes widened. “What did you tell him?”  
“I told him you were loaded and spending the night here. I don’t think you and Martin will be having any more sleepovers for a while.”  
“When are they coming to get me?”  
“They’re not.” He looked surprised. “I’ll take you home tomorrow.”  
“Thanks, Anita.” He sighed. “They were going out today for their anniversary.”  
Anniversary? Guess I forgot. “And you think being here is going to be easy? What the hell were you thinking?”  
He flinched as I yelled. “Sorry.”  
“Sorry?” I shouted back.  
“Anita.” I turned to look at Micah. “Yelling at him isn’t going to help.”  
“No but it's going to make me feel better and him feel worse.”  
He smiled at me and came over carrying his own coffee. “Just talk to him.” He moved to put his hand on my shoulder but I leant away from him.  
“No.”  
“No what?” He frowned.  
“Don’t touch me, I don’t want to calm down.”  
“You can do that?” Josh’s voice turned us back to him.  
“What?”  
“Can he calm you down with a touch? Is it just Micah or all were’s?” He suddenly seemed to be paying attention.  
“No, he can’t, doesn’t.” I said a little confused by the question. Just how intuitive was Josh? “I’m not discussing my personal life with you.”  
“What is it that’s got you so interested, Josh?” Micah frowned at him.  
Josh seemed to sink back in his seat. “I was just wondering.” He mumbled.  
“That’s not it.” Micah slipped into the seat beside me. “Why were you at The Lunatic Cafe?”  
Josh squirmed in his seat. I could feel uncomfortable waves from him and I narrowed my eyes.  
“Why were you there?”  
“Start at the beginning.” Micah said.  
Josh sighed and I could just about sense the defeat on him. “When we got home after visiting you, it had been in the papers and Martin had seen it. He asked me about it and we talked for ages.” He looked down at the table. “We talked about what it would be like, to be a were.”  
“What?” I yelled.  
“You guys make it look so great, so easy…”  
I leant across the table and clipped him up the back of his head. “Don’t be so stupid!”  
“But…”  
“No buts! Just…no!” I pushed away from the table and stood up.  
“Josh, you’re only seventeen.” Micah said. “Go to college, get a trade.”  
“Nathaniel isn’t much older than me and he’s…”  
“He’s almost five years older than you!” I yelled from the counter where I’d paced to. “And that’s not the point.”  
“I’ll be eighteen soon, then it’s legal anyway.” He shrugged. “If it was that bad the legal limit would be higher, right?”  
Micah and I shared a look. His was a look he normally gave me, the one that said ‘now who’s naïve?’ Mine was one of sheer horror. Micah turned back to him. “How did you get from talking about it to being drunk at The Lunatic Cafe?”  
Josh looked from Micah to me. I glared at him and he flinched and looked down at his coffee. “We talked about coming to the city one night. I suggested calling you guys but Martin said no. He said you’d call Dad, that we had to do it alone.” He sighed. “So we both told our folks we were staying at the others tonight and we caught a train over.”  
“Let me get this straight.” I said. “The two of you came to St Louis to get infected with lycanthropy?” I yelled the last.  
“Seemed like a good idea at the time.” He murmured.  
“Good idea?” I screamed.  
Micah got to his feet and moved over to stand in front of me. “Calm down a little, okay?”  
“No! He,” I pointed at Josh, “needs his head checking! Or beating!”  
“I admit his reasoning may not be thoroughly thought through but yelling at him isn’t going to help. We may need to…educate him.”  
I narrowed my eyes. “You’d better make it out to be bad.” I muttered and went back to the table. “Alright, idiot, what about the drinking?”  
“Dutch courage.” He shrugged. “That got a bit out of hand.”  
“And The Lunatic Cafe?”  
“It was mentioned in the news report.”  
“Did you go anywhere else?”  
“Some other bars, but we were kind of working up the guts to go to The Lunatic Cafe.”  
I sighed. “Well, at least it was there. It could have been worse.” I glanced at Micah who nodded.  
“One word; Narcissus.”  
I shook my head. “I don’t even want to contemplate that.”  
Josh frowned as though remembering something. “Was it my imagination or was your ex, Richard, at The Lunatic Cafe?”  
“Yeah, he’s the one who called me and you should think yourself damn lucky he did.”  
“Is he one?”  
I groaned. “Not now, Josh. I need time to think.” I looked back at Micah. “Do we have any clothes that’ll fit the beanpole?”  
“Damian’s.”  
“Oh great, he’ll look like a vampire gigolo.” I sighed. “I guess if that's all we have.”  
“I can put on what I had on last night.” Josh added.  
“No, you can’t.” He looked to Micah who shook his head, wrinkling his nose. “Which reminds me, there’s a bucket outside with your name on it.”  
Josh looked horrified then got up and headed towards the front door.  
“You know, that’s cruel.” Micah said as Josh disappeared into the bathroom with his bucket.  
“Teach him a lesson though.” I said before downing my rapidly cooling coffee.  
“What about the other lesson?” I frowned at him and moved to get more coffee. “The ‘being a lycanthrope isn’t all fur coats and hot sex’ lesson.”  
“It’s not?” Nathaniel asked as he came into the room. His hair shone, framing him like an auburn cape. He too, like Micah, was just wearing jeans.  
“I don’t want Josh coveting life as a were. And I bet he doesn’t even realise the sex is any different.” I leant heavily on the counter.  
“Josh wants to be a were?” Nathaniel frowned and we brought him up to speed.  
“It’s nothing against you guys, you know that,” I said, “but at seventeen Josh shouldn’t be considering this as a career choice.”  
“I agree.” Micah nodded. “We should get some friends to talk to him.”  
“I think it’s clean.” Josh said and we all looked at him.  
“Okay. Nathaniel can you steal some of Damian’s clothes and find something vaguely normal for Josh to wear? Josh, go get showered.”  
“Sure thing. C’mon, Josh.” And Nathaniel took him upstairs.  
“Who do you suggest?” I moved around the counter and leant on it with my butt, arms folded under my breasts.  
“Nathaniel and I will talk to him. I mean sure, we’re happy now, but in the early days it’s a bitch. We can emphasise that. Jason will be a good candidate because if you tell him you want the gory, non sugar coated version that’s what he’ll give.” He paused for a moment.  
“Go on, say it.”  
“What?”  
“That I should ask Richard.”  
“He’s the best example of someone hating it.” He shrugged. “He’s as high up the food chain as you can get, so to speak, and, well, he hates it. He can’t change it but he won’t accept it either.”   
“I’ll call in the troops.” I sighed and went for the phone.  
“Hey.” He caught my arm as I passed and pulled me to him in a tight hug, his forehead rested on mine. “Try not to worry, okay?”  
“How can I not worry?” I snuggled in close and breathed in his scent at the curve of his neck.  
“We’ll change his mind. At the very least we can give him something to think about.”  
“I don’t want him thinking about it.” I muttered. “I want him to realise what a stupid idea it is.”  
“We’ll do what we can.” He reassured me, his thumbs kneading the base of my back.  
I lifted my head back up to look at him. “But what if it’s not enough? What if he still thinks…?”  
I didn’t get to finish because he kissed me; kissed me fiercely until there was nothing but him. His hand slid into my hair and cradled my head as his other splayed against my back pressing me harder against him. I made a small inarticulate noise as his tongue traced across my mouth and I opened it in his wake. He growled into my open mouth as his hands convulsed against me, the pull on my hair making me gasp but not from pain. His hands moved to my thighs and he lifted me easily as I fastened my legs around his waist. He pushed me back against the counter, grinding himself against me.  
“Just a reminder,” Nathaniel said as he came back into the room, “that your baby brother is in the house and even though I don’t mind he might not want to see you at it on the counter we cook on.”  
Micah and I parted and laughed. “No, that probably would scar him for life.” I said as Micah put me down, sliding me the length of his body; he’d definitely been enjoying himself as much as I was. “Did you find Josh some clothes?” I asked, my arms still wrapped around Micah.  
“Not yet.” Nathaniel pulled a spare toothbrush out of a drawer. “He needs supplies first. I’ll nip down the cellar and have a rummage through Damian’s stuff in a sec.”  
“Thanks.” I smiled at him and he kissed me over Micah’s shoulder as he passed.  
“No problem. Weren’t you making phone calls?”  
“I don’t think he trusts us not to pick up where we left off.” Micah nuzzled in against my neck and I closed my eyes.  
“If you keep on at her neck like that she won’t let you stop.” Nathaniel called back. “Call Jason before it’s too late.”  
I sighed and Micah reluctantly stepped back. I called Jason's cell number while Micah poured more coffee. Jason answered on the fourth ring in a hushed voice.  
“What’s up?”  
“Jason, it's Anita.”  
“I know, what’s up?”  
“Why are you whispering?”  
“I don’t…hang on.” I heard a door shut and his voice came back slightly echoey. “Okay, go.”  
“Are you in the bathroom?” I couldn’t keep the amusement out of my voice.  
“Yeah. Did you call for a reason or just to bug me?”  
“Sorry. I need a favour.”  
“Oh, this call’s getting better.” I could hear him grinning. “Is it my favourite kind of favour?”  
“I’m afraid not.” I knew he meant the ardeur so I explained what was going on and what I needed him to do.  
“Can I get one of Nathaniel’s dinners thrown in?”  
“Sure.” I laughed. “When will you be over?”  
“Gimme an hour, maybe more.”  
“Depending on if your bed mate wakes up horny, huh?”  
“I hope not. Stephen’s just not my type.”  
It took a second for that to register. “Sorry, I thought…”  
“Yeah, I know what you thought.” His voice was teasing. “I’ll be over in a while.”  
“Thanks, Jason.”  
“No problem. You can pay be back somehow. Maybe you can be my horny bed mate.”  
“Gee, and there was me thinking you’d wanna watch football.” It was my turn to tease.  
“Why watch football when there’s more active sports we could both enjoy? See you soon.” And he hung up.  
“What’s the big joke with you three and football?” Micah asked as Nathaniel came back downstairs.  
“Long story.” I shook my head.  
“Okay, you two, out of my kitchen.” Nathaniel said, going to the refridgerator. “I need to start prepping for dinner and you need a good breakfast.”  
“Yes, Mom.” I said with a grin.  
“Go call Richard.” He reminded me. “I’ll do breakfast.”  
“He’ll be at church. Or at his folks doing the Walton thing.” I took the coffee Micah offered me. Yum, on both fronts.  
“It’s just gone eleven. Give him another half hour to get out of church and call him.” Micah said.  
“Plenty of time to eat breakfast.” Nathaniel added.  
“Alright, alright. What we having?”  
What we had was bacon and cheese bagels with sausage patties on the side. Proteinalicious. Josh came down, looking awkward in the leather pants and white silk shirt but that soon passed to be replaced by apparent nausea when we made him eat. Nathaniel and Micah both assured him a good greasy breakfast was just the thing for alcohol poisoning.  
Once we’d eaten I went through to the lounge to call Richard. I finally tracked him down at his folks’.  
“I’m helping Mom in the kitchen, Anita. What do you need?” He knew me too well.  
“I need a favour.”  
He sighed. “I can’t…” he lowered his voice, “feed you today. Once I’m done here I have papers to mark.”  
“Gee, do all my favours revolve around the ardeur?”  
“This one doesn’t?” He seemed genuinely surprised.  
“No.”  
“How’s Josh doing this morning, by the way?”  
“Green. That’s kind of the favour.”  
“Josh?”   
“Yeah. He was at The Lunatic Café last night because he and his buddy had some genius plan to become lycanthropes.”  
“What?!” He sounded as shocked as I had. “I hope you told him not to be so stupid?”  
“Yeah, I did, several times, but I’m not convinced it sank in.”  
“Want me to talk to him?”  
“Would you? Micah, Nathaniel and Jason are going to give him some gory details but I hoped you would to.”  
“Yeah,” he said bitterly, “I guess out of all of us I’m the…”  
“Don’t say it, Richard. I just thought you’d be the most objective.”  
“Objective.” He was quite for a moment, as though mulling it over. “That’s one way to put it.”  
“There’s nothing wrong with being objective.”  
“You’d know about that.” I could hear the smile in his voice. He was teasing.  
“Yeah, I would.”  
“Let me talk to Mom, I’ll get out of dinner and be there soon.”  
“You can have dinner here if you want. We’re having roast beef.”  
He paused for a moment. “Sure, why not.”  
“No picking on the boys though.”  
“I’ll do my best.” He sighed. “I’ll concentrate on talking Josh around if you promise not to be too touchy feely while I’m there.”  
“Deal. Say hi to your folks for me.”  
“Sure thing.”  
“Richard will be here for dinner too.” I said going back through to the kitchen.  
“And Jason I guess.” Nathaniel said from where he was peeling potatoes at the sink. “So six?”  
“Yeah. That okay?” I folded my arms on the counter and looked at him.  
“You know we always have plenty.” He shrugged with a smile.  
“He had one stipulation though, he asked if we can try restrain ourselves while he’s here.”  
“Where’s the fun in that?”  
“We want him to cooperate.” Micah said.  
"Damn. I'll have to get my quota now." He came and leant over the counter for a brief kiss.  
“Which means we’re all organised.” I turned and leant on the counter facing Micah and Josh at the table. “Richard and Jason are coming over to talk to you about being a were. Nathaniel and Micah will too. So you get your questions ready because you’re getting were 101.”  
“So Richard is a were.” Josh raised his eyebrows. “What kind?”  
I shook my head. “Listen, Josh, this is important. You must not tell anyone about Richard. It could ruin his career.”  
“Cross my heart.” He did. “What about the rest of you guys, and Jason?”  
“I run a coalition for local weres so I think I’ve already been outed.” Micah smiled.  
“And Nathaniel and Jason are known about too.” I added.  
“If you strip at Guilty Pleasures you’re either a were or a vamp.” Nathaniel added.  
“Okay, so no blabbing about Richard. Got it.” Josh said. “Who gets to talk first?” Josh glanced between Nathaniel and Micah with a look of barely contained anticipation on his face.   
“You’re not supposed to be enjoying this.” I pointed a finger at him.  
“Sorry.” He tried to straighten his face and failed.  
“Okay, someone wipe that look off his face before I do.” I said and walked through to the lounge. I heard Micah take up the talking. I knew his tale was probably the goriest horror story with maniacal pan weres, near death attacks and the whole first change thing. Josh might not need the others to talk to him after all.  
I stood and looked out the front window at the bare trees for a moment then cast my eyes over my depressingly empty aquarium. The last angel fish had died months ago and I hadn’t got round to either getting more fish or emptying it. I guess I should do one or the other. Perhaps Nathaniel would go shopping for fish with me, it seemed like his kind of thing and I always had enjoyed watching the fish more than TV in the old days. But then watching TV alone seemed kinda sad. Micah, Nathaniel and I had turned it into a regular fixture and even now I toyed with the idea of putting on a news channel just for the background noise. At least once a week we watched a movie, mainly ones from Micah and my childhoods and classics, the likes of which Nathaniel had never got to see; The Wizard of Oz, Lassie and more Disney flicks that you could shake a dinglehopper at. Nathaniel cried when Bambi’s mother got shot but then I was no better. I welled up at the end of The Little Mermaid.  
I could still hear Micah talking quietly in the kitchen and I finally turned the TV on, keeping the volume low. The news anchor spoke quietly in the background as I searched the listings for tonight’s movies. Not that I thought we were likely to get to watch any. I heard a car in the drive and looked back out the window to see Jason coming to a stop behind Micah’s car. The first part of the cavalry had arrived.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Explanations to Josh begin.

Almost two hours later I found myself seated on the deck out back bundled up in my coat with a hot coffee in my hands. I’d been effectively banned from the conversation in the house. Even after Micah had done with him, and Nathaniel and Jason had told a few scary stories about Raina, Josh still pressed them for the good stuff, as though none of the bad stuff mattered. I’d slapped him up the back of his head again, harder this time, and screamed at him. So here I was while Nathaniel finished dinner and Jason and Micah got serious with Josh in the lounge, well out of my way.  
A warm autumn breeze blew around the corner of the house and over me…in December? That wasn’t right. I turned my head and watched as Richard came into view.  
“So, why are you sitting out in the cold?” He asked sitting on the step beside me.  
“I got thrown out.” I offered him a sideways smile.  
“Of your own house?” He raised his eyebrows.  
“Yeah.”  
“Why?”  
“I think they got the impression I was going to hit Josh.”  
“And where did they get that impression?”  
“Because I hit Josh.” I smiled apologetically.  
“Not hard, I hope?” His eyes widened.  
“Not really.” I shrugged. “Just a slap up the back of his head. Or two.”  
He shook his head. “Has he had any information yet?”  
I nodded. “Micah and Nathaniel have had a go. Jason is trying now, but he’s still interested apparently.”  
“Perhaps Nathaniel wasn’t the best person to ask. He…”   
“Choose your next sentence carefully, Richard.” I gave him cold eyes.  
“He likes being a were because it’s what brought him to you.” Wow, that was diplomatic for Richard where Nathaniel was concerned.  
“Yeah, but that’s not what he told Josh. He told him about his first change and how cruel Gabriel and Raina were. And what they used to do for hobbies.”  
Richard looked horrified. “Just how much detail did he give?”  
“Not quite enough to give Josh nightmares but enough for food for thought.”  
“Good. They still give me nightmares some nights.” He shuddered.  
“Try being possessed by one of them.”  
“I’ll pass if it’s all the same to you.” He smiled.  
“Chicken.” I smiled back.  
“Wolf.” He corrected me. “I’d like to talk to Josh alone, if that’s okay?”  
“Sure.” I shrugged. “I think we’re leaning towards everyone telling their story to him then a big Q and A over dinner.”  
“Shall we go see how Jason’s getting on?”  
Jason had somehow got sidetracked and he and Josh were discussing colleges. I guess at least it was a reasonably constructive line of conversation.  
“How’s the head, Josh?” Richard asked as he sat in an armchair.  
“Clearing. Sorry about last night.” He said sheepishly.  
“No problem. As much as I know this will fall on deaf ears, don’t be in such a hurry to grow up.”  
“I’m nearly eighteen.”  
Richard looked at me with a small smile. “Oh to be that naïve again.” He turned to Jason. “Did you tell Josh about what you tried to do the second time you met Anita?”  
“Erm, no.” Jason had the decency to look embarrassed.  
“Maybe you should.”  
Jason looked at me. “Want I should do it?” I asked.  
“Be gentle.” He said.  
I sighed. I didn’t want things sugar coated but I also didn’t want Josh to see Jason as a monster. “Richard, Jason and I had been,” I struggled for the right word.  
“Incarcerated.” Richard said.  
“Thanks.” I smiled. “We had been incarcerated by some guys who were hunting weres for sport. Jason hadn’t long been turned and it was the full moon. The bad guys thought it would be funny to lock Jason and I in a cage together.” I paused obviously too long because Josh asked; “What?”  
“When it’s near time to shift, especially in the early days, the first thing you do is look for food.” Richard said. “Anita was the only thing available.”  
“You would have eaten her?” Josh turned wide eyes on Jason.  
“Jason was very well behaved, considering.” I said in his defence. “It was close but he controlled his urges. And that was years ago. I’d trust Jason with my life.”  
Jason smiled at me and it was worth it.  
“That’s all very well and good but are we giving Josh the horrible truth or are we boosting Jason's ego?” Richard asked with a frown.  
I sighed. “I don’t want Josh being scared to be around Jason. Josh,” I said turning to him, “this was years ago, when Jason was new. He has control now but when a were is new, if you’re not expecting the change or if you’re somewhere you can’t, you might end up eating someone you love. Dad, your mom, Andrea.” I stuck with family, including our stepsister from Judith’s first marriage.  
“That can happen?” Josh looked between us and we all nodded.   
Richard caught my eye and I felt the marks between us open just a little. He wanted his alone time with Josh.  
“C’mon, Jason.” I offered him my hand and pulled him up off the couch. “Let’s go see if Nathaniel needs anything.” And dragged him through to the kitchen.  
“Aw, we’re really going in the kitchen? I thought seeing Nathaniel was a euphemism.” He grinned as I released his hand and went to the refrigerator, throwing him a soda.  
“Anyone else want one?”  
Both Micah and Nathaniel did. I threw Nathaniel his; he was sitting on the counter but I placed Micah’s beside him on the table before popping my own open. He was using his laptop and now would be a lousy time to be a bad shot.  
“I thought last nights meeting was straightforward?” I asked as he pulled me to sit on his lap.  
“It was. I’m just checking the e-mail.” He wrapped his arms around my waist.  
“No problems?”  
“Not one.” He kissed my nose. “So you can stop worrying about this at least.”  
“I hope Richard does a thorough job.”  
“I’m sure he will. By the way this mail might interest you.” He hit a few keys and opened one of the mails. I turned and read it. And read it again. And frowned.  
“Graham is volunteering?”  
“He’s volunteering to volunteer. I haven’t said yes yet.”  
Jason peered over our shoulders. “Well you have to admire his persistence.”  
“Persistence?” I frowned harder.  
“Yeah. His available hours match your normal days off. Sunday and Monday.”  
“Cheeky bastard.” I said, reading the rest.  
“I’ll tell him we have plenty of volunteers for those hours but thanks for the interest.” Micah kissed my cheek.  
“Tell him he can cover my vacation days and stuff.” I said, hopping off his lap.  
“That’s cruel.” Micah said. “I like it.” And started tapping a reply.  
“What’s the plan for after dinner?” Jason asked, setting the table without being asked.  
“Nag Josh some more I guess.” I shrugged.  
“Best put in a courtesy call to Asher later. Pass me an apple, Nathaniel.” Nathaniel threw him an apple from the bowl beside him on the counter as realisation dawned.  
“Dammit, I’d forgotten I was seeing Asher tonight.”  
“Seeing, kissing, groping, screwing.” Jason filled in the gaps.  
“Yeah but he’ll take it personally, never mind the Josh problem. He’ll do an…an…an Asher and go all brooding and hurt.”  
“You could get him to come here.” Nathaniel suggested.  
“Even Josh isn’t stupid enough not to notice me disappearing up to the bedroom with a vampire.”  
“Spend the night at the circus.” Micah said, not looking up.  
“I can’t leave Josh here.”  
“I meant all of us.” He looked up. “If Josh thinks being a were is so glamorous let him see one of us shift and feed close up. It’ll probably scare the shit out of him better than words can.”  
I raised my eyebrows. “You might be onto something.”  
“And he’ll be as safe at the circus as he would be here. And we can take him round the circus while you and Asher get busy.”  
I looked at Nathaniel. “Surely there’s some rule about you guys being this cute and this smart?”  
“It’s a were thing.” Nathaniel grinned.  
“So we’ll all descend on the circus.” Micah confirmed.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Josh asks questions, Josh gets answers, Josh gets personal, Anita doesn't like it.

Dinner was fun. If your idea of fun is talking to someone as unmovable as a brick wall. Damn Blake stubbornness. Josh had saved most of his questions for us all together and not only were we having to explain what we thought were basic premises but some very naïve, very seventeen year old boy questions too. I should have realised how it was going to go when he started by saying; “I know you guys have been trying to scare me but come on, how about the good stuff?” Oh boy.  
“What do you want to know?” I asked through gritted teeth.  
“I know about wolves and leopards but what others? I remember you mentioned some before.”  
Okay, this was an easy one. Anyone could have answered but of course everyone looked expectantly at me. “Rat, swan, lion, fox, snake, hyena, lots.” I said eventually.  
“Wow.” He smiled slightly at me from the opposite end of the table. We’d deliberately sat him at the foot of the table so we could all see him easily. Nathaniel was on my left, Micah on my right with Richard beside him and Jason opposite. The food smelled great, as always, but I didn’t feel like eating. I had to, of course, or risk Nathaniel and Damien, but Josh was being a stubborn bastard about this.  
“There’s lots of options there. Which is better?” See? Naïve.   
I glared at him, for Josh nothing was better than remaining human but he didn’t understand that.  
“Each has different pros and cons.” Micah said finally. “Different pack sizes, structures and traditions. Some lycanthropy is harder to contract therefore there aren’t actual packs to speak of, just one or two individuals locally.”  
“I like the pack idea. Being part of a gang.” He nodded. I bit my tongue so I wouldn’t answer. “So which have packs?”  
“Wolf, rat, most of the cats.” Richard said, glancing at me. He gave me a look, an imploring one. One that said; ‘come on, join in, it can’t hurt.’  
“Cool. And you change into whatever you’re, erm…”  
“Infected.” I stated. He looked at me, surprised I think at the choice of word. I nodded. “Lycanthropy is a disease, Josh. Infected is the correct term. But yes, if you are infected it will be with the same strain of lycanthropy as the person cutting you up.” His eyes went wider. “Blood to blood contact, Josh. With the other person in animal form. Geez, did you think you shook hands?”  
He shrugged. “I knew I guess but when you put it like that.” He shrugged again.  
“What?”  
“Nothing.”  
“When I put it like that, what?” I pressed.  
“It sounds kinda…gruesome.”  
“Did nothing these guys told you sink in?” I said obviously too loudly because Micah thrust the gravy into my hand.  
“Before it goes cold.” He said giving me his calm down look again.  
Nathaniel tapped my other hand. “Why not call Cherry. She turned voluntarily.”  
I smiled slightly at him letting him know just how good an idea it was. “Thanks, Nathaniel.”  
“I’ll call her after dinner and get her to meet us at the circus.”  
“The circus?” Josh asked. Oh yeah. We hadn’t told him.  
“Yeah. I need a favour from you.”  
“What?” He frowned.  
“If we take you to The Circus of the Damned and let you see some weres shift, you have to promise you won’t tell Dad or Judith.”   
“I promise.” He grinned.  
“Oh and you’ll get to meet Jean Claude too, I should think, so no telling about that either.”  
“Jean Claude?” He looked worried.  
“Oh fuck, now we have to tell you about vamps too. Okay,” I sighed, “this is easy. Don’t make eye contact with them, look at their shoulder, chin or something but not the eye. We all can, you can’t. You won’t be in any danger though because all the vamps owe allegiance to us so I’ll kick their asses if they so much as think about coming near you.”  
“Okay.”  
“Now did you have more questions?”  
He did. And they seemed to be getting more naïve as he went along. Could he choose his fur colour and markings; does the length of time you’ve been a were make you an alpha; then there were the embarrassing ones.  
I thought he’d run out of questions because he was concentrating on his food and I was about to let out a sigh of relief when he said; “When you shift does everything get bigger?”  
I started choking on a carrot. Micah smacked me on the back and dislodged it as Nathaniel passed me some water. Richard and Jason had stopped eating too and Jason was barely containing his laughter.  
“What?” I said.  
Josh shifted uncomfortably in his seat and blushed. “I mean I’ve seen Micah shift and he was, come on, don’t make me say it.”  
I screwed up my eyes and dropped my head onto my hand. “You said you’d answer his questions.” Richard’s voice whispered through my head with the smell of browning leaves. I looked up at him and he shrugged. He was right. I had to be grown up about this.  
“You get taller, broader and yes, that is affected a little…but Micah may be a bad example because he’s not exactly small to start with.” Josh gave Micah a look of surprise and Micah shrugged and gave a small smile. “If you have any more embarrassing questions can we get them over with?”  
“Erm, okay. If I turned, when I shift, I do stay a guy, right?”  
“No, sometimes it falls off and you end up female.” I came back.  
“Anita!” Richard admonished and I shrugged. It had been worth a try. Jason and Nathaniel were laughing like hell but Josh had gone pale.  
“Okay, okay. You’d stay a guy.”  
Josh let out a sigh of relief and drank some of his coke. “What about girls?”  
“Girls stay girls too.”  
“No, I mean, do the girls like it. I mean you like it, right, Anita?”  
“Yeah, she does.” Jason said and I scowled at him.  
“Some girls, well, not just girls,” Richard said, “are afraid of it. People fear what they don’t understand, worry about catching it from a sneeze or a toilet seat. Don’t expect a queue of girls if you change, Josh. Expect worried looks, fear and whispers.”  
“Oh.” Josh looked disappointed. Another few minutes eating and he spoke again. “I kinda get the idea why all you guys were asleep in Anita’s bed that day. It’s pack behaviour, right?” Micah and I nodded. “But do you have to do that to be in a pack?”  
It was Nathaniel who answered. “Even in human form we like the comfort of touching one another. We gain from it, it’s comfortable and reassuring. It’s not compulsory and it’s not really sexual either.”  
“How can you be naked and it not be sexual?” Josh frowned as I squeezed Nathaniel’s hand and smiled at him. “And how come you keep touching Nathaniel like he’s your boyfriend when I thought Micah was? Or Jean Claude?”  
I screwed up my face. “It’s a long story.” I said hoping that would placate him.  
“Okay, you can tell it once I’m done.”  
“No.” I said simply.  
“But you’re not a were so it’s not a pack thing.”  
I sighed heavily. “It is a Pard thing, but it’s more than that. Get on with your questions while I think of a good answer.”  
He smiled slightly. “Okay.” I think he thought he’d won. He did finally ask some more sensible questions, like would it limit his career options, how packs are structured, the physical bonuses and that sort of thing. The guys fielded them for me.  
“I guess my final question,” Josh said and I looked at him because he sounded way too casual, “is if I want to do it would one of you guys do it and help me in the early days?”  
I stared at him. I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to be proud of him for his forethought or yelling at him because he was still considering it. I sighed. “If you’re still considering it, after all we’ve said and what you’ll see tonight, I’d rather you did it with our help than alone but please, at least give yourself a good long time to consider it, wait a year, until you’re legal. Read up on it, learn everything you can and make an informed choice rather than a rash one, okay?”  
“Okay.” He smiled at me. “Thanks, Anita.”  
“No problem.” I said, standing. “Now if you’ll excuse me for a moment.” And leaving what was left of my dinner I went and locked myself in the bathroom and cried for the stupidity of youth.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The explanations continue. Jason puts his foot in it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, if anyone was sitting and waiting for me to post this morning I am soooooooo sorry it's so late. Basically nightmare morning, both daughters to the docs, youngest with a sprained wrist and arm (fall at school plus she has lax joint issues so have to be careful) and the other with a potential broken arm after falling while skating days ago. Long story short, running round town like a chicken with its head chopped off, but now a small lull before I have to take the eldest for x-rays. Phew!

It was Damian who got me out of the bathroom. He’d woken and heard me in there. I pulled him in with me, cried some more as he held me then brought him up to speed as I cleaned up and tried to take the puffiness out of my eyes. Damian held my hand as we went through to the kitchen; if I was going to explain about Nathaniel I may as well do the whole shebang, if Richard was in agreement about me telling he was part of the original triumvirate. His biggest secret was already out so it should be okay, but with Richard I was never sure. Not the ardeur though. Definitely not.  
Nathaniel was alone in the kitchen, everyone else was in the lounge I guess. He smiled when I came into the room and gave me a tight hug but I didn’t relinquish my hold on Damian’s hand; thanks to him I was calm and not upset any more.  
“You okay?” Nathaniel murmured softly.  
“No.” I shook my head slightly. “But I’ll do, for now.”  
“Josh is still waiting for his explanation. He complained that you still hadn’t told him and….”  
“Is that Micah out on the deck?” I said noticing the small dark figure looking out over the darkening yard and trees as I had earlier.  
“That’s what I was getting to.” Nathaniel smiled. “Micah snapped at him to give you a minute.”  
“Micah snapped?” Damien and I both said.  
“Yeah. He says he needs to cool off before he says something he’ll regret.”  
“I’ll talk to him.” I slowly released Nathaniel and Damian.  
“Putting off talking to Josh?”  
“Still getting my thoughts together.” I gave him a small smile and headed out the back door.  
Micah didn’t look back as I closed the door behind me so I said; “Defending my honour, Nimir Raj?”  
He looked at me finally and gave me a small smile but his eyes were dark. “I don’t like to see you upset.”  
I shrugged. “I seem to be doing it more and more lately.”  
“This is different.”  
“Don’t let it get to you.”  
“How can I not?” He threw his arms up as he stood, moving to lean stomach against the banister on the deck, his arms folded. “Josh is your brother and he’s hurting you.”  
“With naivety and stupidity, not on purpose.” I stepped up closer to him but not touching. “I love that you don’t like me being upset, but getting mad isn’t going to help.”  
“This from the woman who keeps slapping Josh in the head?” He raised his eyebrows.  
“I’m allowed. I’m the sister.”  
“I’m guessing from your new calmer self that Damian is up.”  
“Yep.” I nodded. “I have clarity again.”  
“First time today?”  
“Yeah.” I slid against the barrier in front of him and took him in a tight hug which he returned with a sigh. “We’ll educate Josh as best we can, I’ll give him the name of some literature he can read and try get him to promise he won’t do anything until he’s well read and legal.” It was my turn to sigh. “And that we’ll help him if he does decide.”  
“Clarity sucks, doesn’t it?” He kissed the side of my head.  
“Like a blunt fanged vamp.”  
He laughed and we held one another for a moment longer before heading back inside.  
After a quick word with Richard, he was okay with me telling Josh about the triumvirate if I thought it was important, and I set about talking to Josh.  
I stuck to basic facts, started with how I was a necromancer, a powerful one, which gave me connections with not just the dead but various were-animals; leopards, wolves and, as we’d recently discovered, lions. Also I explained as basically as I could about the vampire marks (cue shocked questions about being bitten), then the triumvirate. Then I had to try and explain the rarity of creating my own triumvirate and introduced Damian, Josh’s first vampire. He stared at him for a long time sitting on the arm of the chair beside me with his hand on the back of my neck under my hair until I reminded Josh he was supposed to be avoiding eye contact. Damian laughed when Josh quickly looked at the floor and assured him he wouldn’t harm him.  
“All this is great,” Josh said eventually, “but what has this got to do with you having more than one boyfriend?”  
“Well, that’s my cue.” Richard said, standing. “I have marking to do.”  
“Thanks, Richard, for coming over.”   
“Thanks for dinner.” He nodded and left.  
“Chicken shit.” I murmured.  
Everyone laughed except Josh who didn’t have the advantage of super hearing. Yet, I guess.  
“The boyfriend thing?” Josh reminded us.  
“Anita is unique.” Micah said from the couch. “Something about her, not just her powers, attracts us to her and she loves a few of us lucky ones back.”  
“I’m going to take a shower.” Damian said, kissing the back of my head.  
“Okay. We’re going to the circus soon, you coming?”  
“I’m working tonight.” He smiled. I knew he meant at Danse Macabre.  
“Want a ride there?”  
“Thank you but I’ll make my own way later.” And he left us.  
Josh was straight back to the point. “But how can you love, how many guys? At once?”  
“On the number, no comment, and why? Why not? It works for us.” I said.  
“Really?”  
“Yes, it works fine, end of story.”  
“How do you…?”  
“No, no, no, not going anywhere near where your smutty, teenage mind is going!” I pointed a finger at him. “Your imagination can run riot on this, as much as you like, I’m not telling.” He blushed. He’d thought of something and I really didn’t want to know. “Okay, so now you know, any more questions?”  
“Ardeur.” Jason coughed and I glared at him.  
“What Jason said.” Josh said.  
“I wasn’t going to tell him about the ardeur, thanks.” I frowned.  
“What’s an ardeur then?”  
“It’s a side effect of the vampire marks.” I stopped.  
“And?” Josh prompted.  
“And I don’t want to have to explain it!” I crossed my arms under my breasts.  
“I’ll do it.” Jason grinned.  
“No fucking way!” I hated to think how graphic Jason could make it.  
“Want me to try?” Micah asked.  
“As long as you’re gentle.”  
“Always.”  
Nathaniel laughed and we both scowled at him. “Sorry.” He said.  
Micah started to explain the ardeur to Josh in simple and non graphic terms, explaining that because of my powers, my ties to certain others, and most relevantly Jean Claude, I had to keep my energy levels up and the ardeur made it necessary for a good proportion of that energy to be sexual. This had sparked wide eyes and some choice questions from Josh but Micah ignored them, choosing to say; “Put simply, Josh, Anita needs to feed her energy by having sex regularly.” Wow. That was simple and acceptable.  
“Sounds like a good excuse to me.” Josh said.  
“What do you mean?” I frowned.  
“Well, if that works and you get to sleep with lots of guys…”  
I shot Micah a look. “You forgot to mention the part about if I use the same person too often it could kill them.”  
“Death by sex?” Now Josh looked surprised.  
“It’s not the sex that can kill. If I use the same, erm, donor, too often then they can collapse, but we’ve never let it go far enough that it’s killed anyone.” Josh still looked shocked. I growled in frustration. “Okay, fine, if it makes it easier just think I’m a loose slut.” I got up and stalked towards the stairs.  
I went and talked to Damian and apologised for having to raid his wardrobe while he was dead to the world. He, of course, said it was fine, calmed me down, and went back downstairs with me where I rallied the troops for a trip to the circus.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jean Claude plays host.

Josh seemed to realise he’d hit a nerve and kept his mouth shut all the way there. Guess he did have some sense after all.  
I’d decided to take us all down to see Jean Claude and Asher for a while as the circus itself didn’t open until later and we’d have to finish the night with Josh getting up close and personal with the boys as they shifted. Okay, so not as close as I got with Richard , I didn’t want Josh to pee his pants or anything, but close enough to hear, see and even smell. If seeing Micah, Nathaniel and Jason shift then feed wasn’t enough then Josh really was a lost cause.  
I let us through the back door into the circus, aware that Josh was taking in the sights like any good little tourist, nothing to see in the back room though other than a single, naked bulb. He could gawp once we got downstairs with good reason. Jean Claude was up and waiting for us, I knew that, I could feel his presence like a solid thing pressing against me, but just out of my reach. Of course he didn’t know I was bringing my baby brother with me or what a fun day I’d had so far.  
I paused at the bottom of the uneven stairs and waited for Josh’s eyes to stop roaming the walls and fall on me. “Remember not to look anyone in the eye.” I said simply and opened the great door that separated the staircase from Jean Claude’s home. I heard Josh murmur; “Wow.” As he glanced around the cavernous chamber that was Jean Claude’s curtained lined, minimalist yet opulent, living room.  
Speaking of opulent, the man himself was sitting in what I’d come to realise was his favourite seated pose. And I mean pose. One knee was folded under him, the other knee raised, his heel tucked against the opposite ankle. His arms were spread out across the back of the couch, his spine straight. His velvet black hair hung in soft waves over a deep blue shirt. I almost said blouse but of course despite all the ruffles decorating his chest he looked completely masculine. Oh and the blue shirt somehow made his eyes glow with the depth of midnight skies. His pants of course were painted on leather with soft calf length boots.  
“Ma petite, you did not tell me we were having a guest.” His face was blank yet inviting. I knew he was protective of strangers being brought into the circus, it being his daytime resting place and all, but I thought he might at least have trusted my judgement. That pissed me off, that he honestly thought I’d endanger him, but for once I let it go. I didn’t have the energy to fight again today.  
“I just wanted to get here.” I said simply. “I’m sorry I didn’t call but,” I sighed, “Jean Claude, this is my brother, Josh.”  
Jean Claude raised his eyebrows and I nodded. His attention moved to Josh and he stood fluidly, walking towards us. “I am honoured.” He extended his hand to Josh, very civilised. “Welcome to the Circus of the Damned, Master Blake. I am Jean Claude, master of this fair city.”  
“Thanks.” Josh said, rather taken aback. “You can call me Josh.”  
“Please, take a seat, can I get you anything?”  
I felt my mouth fall open as Jean Claude ushered Josh to a chair. Jean Claude was playing the perfect host. That was just too weird for me.  
“Jean Claude, can I talk to you?” I tucked my fingers in the back of his pants and dragged him into the corridor. I let go of him once we were alone, folded my arms and frowned at him. “Since when did you become Miss Manners?”  
“Miss Manners, ma petite?” He looked genuinely confused.  
“Yes, fawning all over Josh like he’s royalty.”  
“Ah.” He nodded, understanding. “Ma petite, I have never met any of your family. Is it a surprise that I would want even your brother to think good of me?”  
I narrowed my eyes. “You’re trying to make a good impression? That’s it?”  
“That is it.” He nodded once. “Ma petite, remember that I love you, I saw how distressed you were after the unfortunate incident with your father. You may not see them very often but you love your family dearly. For them to hate and fear me would be…” he struggled to find the word, “detrimental to our relationship.”  
I sighed. “Alright, I’ll accept that.”  
“No argument?” He seemed surprised.  
I shook my head. “I’m through arguing for today. At least over petty things.”  
He touched my cheek softly with his fingertips, his face softening. “You’ve cried today.”  
“Just once.” I said, defensively.  
“But it was enough.” I nodded. “As I did not know your brother was visiting do I assume it was impromptu?”  
“You could say that. One sec.” I went back to the curtained entrance and stuck my head through. The guys were all sitting around the coffee table. “I’ll be back in ten minutes, guys.”  
“Only ten?” Jason called. I flipped him off and went back to Jean Claude.   
“Your room. I want you to hold me while I tell you what you missed.”  
We did that. I told him, he held me and didn’t interrupt. We lay quietly afterwards, Jean Claude seemed to be considering what I’d told him. The silence was irritating.  
“Say something.” I said finally.  
“I cannot think of anything to say.” He said simply, his voice reverberating through his chest into my ear. “Youth makes us all irresponsible at times.”  
“Idiotic, more like.”  
“We should return to them.” Jean Claude reminded me.  
I sighed; long and deep. “Yeah, I guess we should.” I tilted my head and kissed him softly, then slid off the bed.  
“At least you refrained from hitting him.” Jean Claude smiled as he moved to the edge of the bed beside me. The smile slipped as he saw the look on my face. “Please tell me you did not strike your brother, ma petite?”  
“Just a couple of times.” I squirmed under his shocked gaze. “But I was gentle. Just on the back of his head. For shock value.”  
Jean Claude seemed to relax a little. Even though he had seen Josh was unharmed he was worried I could have really hurt him. “To knock some sense into him.” He nodded.  
“Didn’t work though.”  
He stood and offered me his right hand. I took it and let him lead me from the room. “Youth makes fools of us all, ma petite.”   
“Even you?” I looked at him sceptically.  
He gave me a smile. It could have meant anything. I wasn’t going to get shit out of him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just have to say I LOVED writing Jean Claude trying to be overly polite to Josh, because why wouldn't he?


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anita and Josh have a little talk with no slapping this time!

We sat around Jean Claude’s living room drinking coffee and chatting. It was disturbingly civilised. Jean Claude asked Josh about his schooling and eventually, after stuttering out his first question, Josh asked Jean Claude about vampirism and more information on the triumvirate. It unnerved me a little that, given the opportunity to quiz my vampire sweetie, Josh was more interested in the ties that bound me to him. Perhaps he was trying to get around to the ardeur again so he could justify his big sis being slutty.  
I felt Asher approaching. Dammit. Jean Claude had agreed no vampiric shit in front of Josh but Asher didn’t know. I felt him coming like a wave of solid sexual energy. As far as Asher was concerned I was here for him to drag off and have his wicked way with.  
“What’s that?” Josh asked quietly. He sounded breathless and a look showed me he was wide eyed too.  
“You feel something?” I asked, trying to keep the surprise out of my voice.  
“It’s like,” he shivered visibly, “someone walking fingers up my spine.”  
He was ‘sensitive’? Oh Judith would love that. “Hold that thought. I need to dampen Asher down a little.” I hopped up and out of the double half hug I’d been in with Micah and Jean Claude and stepped over Nathaniel and Jason who were sitting at our feet.  
Asher seemed to be getting better, or maybe worse was the right word, at projecting lust. Sometimes it was by accident but right now it was deliberate and it was hard to resist. I wouldn’t reach him before he entered the room, not even close. Question was would I have enough sense that close to Asher to ask him to lower it a bit?  
He entered the room and I stopped halfway across, taking him in as he walked towards me, not sparing a glance at anyone else. His golden hair flowed around his face and shoulders as he walked, his cream lacy shirt completely open and moving around his pale upper body giving glimpses of his scars. Leather pants encompassed his legs and his feet were bare, almost as pale as the carpet they walked upon.  
He reached me and I could feel him like heat against my skin, the urge to touch him was almost more than I could bear. I drew a shuddering breath as he took my face in his hands and lowered his face towards me.  
“We’ve got company.” I breathed against his lips, eyes closed, waiting for a touch that didn’t come.  
Asher had frozen above me and I knew he was glancing at the group. I closed the gap between us and placed a soft lingering kiss on his lips. I could feel him receding into himself and wanted to reassure him. I rested my hands on his chest and moved back from him, looking into his face. “We got a surprise visitor.” I said quietly as he looked at me. “But we’ll continue this in a little bit, okay?”  
He nodded slightly and released me. Suddenly the Asher I’d come to enjoy was replaced by the arrogant Asher that pissed me off. I moved my hand to his and tugged on it. “Just until the circus opens.” I murmured. “Then I’m going to jump you.” I pulled him towards the couches. All eyes were on us, but Josh’s were wide, too much white. Since when could he sense this kind of thing? “Josh, this is Asher, Jean Claude’s second in command. Asher, this is Josh, my brother.”  
Asher raised his eyebrows slightly. Guess my family visiting was a big deal after all. Asher bowed slightly but didn’t offer Josh a hand. It was probably a good thing, Josh looked freaked out enough as it was. I went back to my seat and Asher took the empty chair near Josh’s. Josh had turned to face us again but had pulled the cushion from behind him into his lap. Poor kid had felt his first vampiric power and it had had an unfortunate affect.  
“What was that?” Josh’s voice sounded small and quiet.  
“What did you feel?” I asked, surprised how calm I sounded.  
“It was hot.” He hugged himself. “And tingly. What was it?” He sounded scared.  
“Turns out you’re more talented than we thought.” I smiled reassuringly. “What you felt was Asher’s powers. Asher and Jean Claude sort of specialise in powers revolving around lust.” He nodded. We knew that was what he’d felt but this wasn’t tenth grade, we weren’t going to point and laugh. “Is this the first time you’ve felt something…” I struggled for a word, “different?”  
“I’m not sure.” He whispered.  
I sighed. He’d been blossoming some sort of power and hadn’t had anyone to talk to about it. “I think you and me need a little talk.” I smiled sympathetically. But where to go?  
“Use my room, ma petite.” Jean Claude said.  
“Thanks.” I smiled and took Josh with me to Jean Claude’s room. Josh didn’t even look at the room excessively. Guess he was more interested in what we were going to talk about. I dragged one of the two chairs to face the bed, offered it to Josh and climbed up on the bed myself, sitting crosslegged facing him. “When did you start sensing things?” Best to start simple.  
“Just now for sure.” He rubbed his arms. “But there might have been some things before.”  
“Anything in particular?”  
“When I saw Micah shift. I got like a tingly feeling up my back but I thought it might have been fear. I’ve heard things other people haven’t sometimes too but that’s about it.” He leant forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “What does it mean?”  
“It means you’re sensitive to the preter- and supernatural.”  
“It’s weird.” He said simply.  
“Tell me about it.” We shared a sympathetic sibling smile.  
“Do you think I could be an animator? I mean, is it hereditary?” He was trying very hard to keep his emotions in check but relief was washing over me from him in a solid wave.  
I shook my head. “It is but not in our case. I got my necromancy from my mom’s family.”  
“Tell me?” Josh’s voice was almost pleading.  
“Grandma Flores, my mom’s mom, was a vaudan priestess, voodoo. She recognised what I was early on.”  
“How early?”  
“I was eight when my mom died and I could already sense souls when they left bodies or hung around places. My dog died when I was thirteen and I unwittingly raised her. She crawled out of the ground and I woke up with her on my bed. That freaked your mom out.”  
“I bet.” He smiled.  
“When the road kill started following me home, that’s when Dad sent me to stay with Grandma Flores, to see if she could do anything.”  
“I guess she did?”  
“She taught me control.” I shrugged. “She knew I was a necromancer in the making and that’s not really a good thing.”  
“Why not?” He frowned.  
“In years gone by they were hunted down and killed, mostly by vampires. The difference between necromancers and animators is the level of power. As an animator you can raise the dead, control zombies, but as a necromancer I can control all sorts of dead, including vampires.”  
“Which the vampires don’t like so they hunted them down.” He nodded, understanding.  
“Exactly.”  
“So how come you and Jean Claude are…erm,” he let the sentence hang there.  
“Lovers? Master and servant? Sparring partners?” He nodded. “Better the devil you know.” I shrugged. “I was a catch and apparently Jean Claude knew it first. Actually it is a wonder I’m still alive.”  
“If half of what I’ve read about you in the papers is true, it sounds like it.”  
“I’d like you to talk to Tammy.” I said.  
“Who’s Tammy?” He frowned. I didn’t blame him. I’d be suspicious too.  
“Tammy is a friend, I guess. She’s a witch, a cop too. She’s also on maternity leave so we should be able to see her before we leave tomorrow. She should be able to give us some vague idea where your sensitivity could lead.”  
“Can’t you do it?”  
I shook my head. “I know the dead, Josh, and to a degree the weres. I know you’re neither so yours lies somewhere else.”  
“Yet.”  
“One problem at a time.” I grimaced. “Let’s work out what you are before what you want to be.”  
“Okay. So what might I be?”  
“You could be psychic, clairvoyant or clairaudient; or you might just be sensitive to this kind of thing and there isn’t anything else to it, but it's better to have a heads up if there is something.”  
He nodded. “Okay. But how come I felt something from the second vampire and not Jean Claude?”  
“Asher.” I reminded him. “Jean Claude and I agreed no vamp powers while you were here.”  
“You mean you told him.”  
I shrugged again. “Whatever. We didn’t want you freak out. Vampire tricks work on just about everyone but what Asher was doing was…” I waved my hand trying to explain, “projecting.”  
“You mean he’s hot for you and magically projected it?”  
I felt a blush rush from my core to my cheeks and couldn’t stop it. “Kind of. Like I said, lust is a speciality of their bloodline. Asher is particularly talented.”  
“Oh really?” He grinned, I blushed harder and he laughed. “You sleep with him too, don’t you?”  
“Look, if you want to understand what’s going on you have to get over the fact that I’m fucking a bunch of guys on a regular basis, okay?” I said, scathingly.  
“I was just teasing.” He said apologetically.  
“Don’t you think I know how it looks?” I held my hands out flat in a questioning pose. “If I were someone else I’d think I was a slut and a whore but when it comes to it I do what I have to for not only my survival but for the survival of some I care a lot about. So accept it, move on and stop poking fun.”  
He stared at me for a long moment and eventually said; “You really don’t like it, do you?”  
“I’ve adjusted to it.” I sighed. “It took some doing but its everyone else’s opinion that gets to me.”  
“It’s not a bad ‘have to’ though.” He said with a small smile.  
“It does have its pluses.” I smiled back.  
“How about I make you a deal?” He said and I raised an eyebrow. “I won’t ask you any more stupid questions or embarrass you.”  
“And my side of the deal?” I narrowed my eyes suspiciously. It sounded too good so far.  
“Just keep doing what you’re doing.” He stood and smiled. “Help me and stuff. Oh and don’t hit me anymore.”  
“I can’t promise that last one.” I stood too and he hugged me.  
“Just not so hard?” He asked and I nodded, stepping back.  
“So long as you remember not to say a word about any of this to Dad or Judith.”  
“Are you kidding?” He laughed. “They’d kill me too!”  
I smiled. He was right. After all I’d faced the prospect of facing an angry Dad scared the hell out of me.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Smut smutty smut smut! (Way back before Asher became a douchenozzle.)

“Stay with the guys, don’t make eye contact, don’t go off with anyone you don’t know, listen to Micah and have fun.” I said as I straightened Josh’s collar.  
“Yes, Mom.” He rolled his eyes.  
“I’ll see you soon.” I said, ignoring his comparing me to Judith and slapped him on the cheek a couple of times for good measure.  
“Or not that soon.” Jason said as he passed. I kicked his ass as he passed and he jumped with a yelp of surprise. Micah smiled at me reassuringly and winked from the door then left, leaving me with the two honeys of the undead.  
“Ma chere,” Asher said, coming up behind me and putting his hands on my shoulders, “if you would rather go with your brother…”  
I shook my head. “I’d only end up killing him.”  
“But I can feel your worry for him, taste your fear.”  
I sighed, leant back and reaching up took his hands, making him embrace me. “He’s a big boy and the guys will look after him. The tour of the circus doesn’t bother me.”  
“You are sure?” He bent his head low so he whispered against my ear, his breath tickling my hair as it mingled with his own.  
I shuddered. “I’d rather sell him to the circus than miss a night with you, mon chardonerette.”  
“Bon.” He nodded and released me, quickly moving around before me and throwing me over his shoulder. I made a small surprised gasp but I was too anticipatory at what was to come to be annoyed.   
“Abientot, Jean Claude.” Asher said and I offered him a wave and a grin as we left his laughing face to enter the corridor leading to Asher’s room.  
I was thrown, or rather dropped onto the white silk sheets of Asher’s bed. He pulled his open shirt off and dropped it on the floor.   
“You have entirely too many clothes on, ma chere.” He said as I trailed my gaze over his chest, lingering on the scars I’d soon be teasing with my tongue and teeth. I liked to bring pleasure to Asher with something that had brought him so much pain over the years. It was better than any therapy.  
I went to my knees on the bed and put my hands on his chest. “Then do something about it.” I said, lowering my face so I could lick the nipple amidst his scars. He drew his breath in sharply through his teeth and I moved back, enabling him to push the shoulder holster off. I drew the Browning and leant to put it gently on the floor as he untucked my polo shirt.  
As soon as my shirt was gone the wrist sheaths and Firestar followed. His power was flowing back making my skin prickle with the need to be touched by him. I pulled him close by the waistband of his pants and ran my hands up his chest.  
“Still too many clothes, chere.” He smiled and I frowned and unpopped the button on his pants.  
“You too.” I said.  
“But ladies first.” He leant over me, forcing me to lay back. “I want to see you laid bare before me.”  
My breath caught at his words and the heat I felt from him. He pulled off my Nikes and socks then ran his hands slowly up the denim covering my legs. He reached my hips and moved his hands to my belt buckle and swiftly loosed it, my button and zipper. The jeans went quickly along with all my underwear. I lay as he’d asked, bare, and watched the hunger in his eyes, hunger that had nothing to do with blood. He’d fed tonight, he was warm, but that wasn’t to say we wouldn’t spill a little more before we were through. With Asher there was more than one kind of penetration that brought release.  
He rested one leather clad knee on the bed between my thighs and touched my temple then let his hand trail down my cheek, neck, collarbone. He barely grazed my nipple with his fingertips but it tightened regardless and I gasped. His feather light touch trailed over my ribs to my hip and inward, stroking the most sensitive part of me until I groaned and raised my hips to meet his hand. He slid two fingers inside me and I closed my eyes at the sensation.  
I felt him lean over me as his fingers caressed me, using my wetness to draw me closer to that crystalline edge as his lips claimed mine in a solid kiss. He made a satisfactory noise as I whimpered into his mouth, my lower body tightening as his fingers threw me into the depths, my body spasming against his hand.  
His kisses slowed to soft brushes of our lips and he looked down at me with a soft smile on his face, his hair surrounding us like a heavy golden curtain, his blue eyes shining as I tried to remember how to breathe.  
“Now I have your attention, ma chere.”  
“You had that the moment you walked in.” I said breathlessly. His power was pressing against me so hard I could feel it at the back of my throat, as though he already filled me in every way possible.  
“Bon.” He smiled. Moving back off the bed he undid his pants and I bit my lip at the sight of him hard and long spilling forth. He slid the pants off easily and moved further up the bed but before I got too far he caught my ankle and pulled me back easily on the silk sheets. He pulled me to the edge of the bed and stepped up to me, putting his hands on my hips and driving himself into me in one swift motion that made me arch my back and cry out.  
He buried himself deep inside me and groaned, his head rolling back as he savoured the feeling as much as I was before drawing himself almost all the way out and in again, starting slow, deep strokes that left me reeling. He held my weight easily in his hands as he slid inside me, going deeper with every movement until I gasped when he reached the core of me. He increased his rhythm until I was immersed in the heady blend of pleasure and pain that made me cry out with every stroke. Suddenly he fell upon me, driving me into the bed until I thought he’d go through me. He kissed me and there was nothing gentle about it but I kissed him back with the same ferocity, pressing my lips to his hard enough to feel his fangs. I trailed my tongue across his lips until they opened and deepened the kiss as he pummelled into me once more. I held his face with my hands and bit at his lip, tasting him on so many levels it was like a sensory overload. He pulled back from my kiss just enough that I could talk but all I said was; “Please, Asher.” in a whispered tone. He paused and looked at me with a knowing smile. He kissed across my jaw to my throat and licked my pulse gently.   
“Is this what you want?” He grazed my skin with one of his fangs.  
“Please.” I murmured, turning my face into his hair and breathing in his scent.  
He sunk his fangs into my throat and I came instantly with a scream. My head spun with the feel of him plunging inside me as he sucked at my neck bringing wave after wave of orgasm until my vision burst into white spots. I could barely breathe as Asher shuddered above me with a muted groan against my throat. His body went slack against mine and we both laid back to try and find ourselves again.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Afterglow and panic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bonus tiny chapter! And, sorry not sorry, cliffhanger! Dun dun duuuuunnn!!!!!!!

I felt weak now but it was a good weak. The blood loss wasn’t really an issue, I’d replace what we’d spilled in next to no time, but coupled with the sexual energy we’d used I was pretty much spent. I was lying against Asher’s left side with his arms around me, tracing slow circles on my back. It was hard to keep my eyes open in his soothing embrace and they kept drifting closed.  
“What are you thinking, ma chere?” He murmured into my hair but it rumbled loudly through his chest and into my ear.  
“About how comfortable I am.” I snuggled closer. “I could sleep now.”  
“If that is what you want, I can wake you in an hour.”  
“You are temptation itself.” I smiled. “But I should…” I didn’t get to finish. Panic seared through my chest so suddenly I gasped in pain.  
“Anita?” Asher rolled me onto my back as my breathing quickened. “What is it?”  
“Panic.” I gasped, wide eyed. “Someone else’s.” I closed my eyes and opened myself, trying to find the source. I’ve failed her; she’ll never trust me again! What do I do now? “Nathaniel.” I whispered. I rolled myself off the bed and onto the floor, scrambling for my clothes and weaponry.  
“Something is wrong with Nathaniel?” Asher started gathering his own clothes to dress.  
“No. He’s freaking out." I looked up at him wide eyed. "They’ve lost Josh.”


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The hunt for Josh begins.

Nathaniel’s panic was the only thing that kept me upright on my way down the corridor. My legs were shaking, as were my insides, but both for different reasons. I buckled my belt as I ran, or tried to; my hands were shaking making it difficult. Asher stopped me with a hand on my shoulder.  
“Ma chere, here.” He handed me my jacket then buckled the belt for me as he spoke. “You will scare the patrons with your gun and you must calm down. Jean Claude will meet us in the storage area.  
“Thanks.” I mumbled.  
“There.” He threaded the belt through the last loop and offered me his hand. I thought about not taking it but this was Asher, he’d take it personally and I really did want to stay on my feet. I took his hand with my left and we kept pace together down the corridor but when it came to the uneven stairs my legs protested, threatening to dump me on my butt. Asher was there though, just a step behind me but his hand on the base of my spine when I stumbled made me more determined not to do it again. It annoyed me so it helped.  
As we entered the storage area the first thing I noticed was how serious Jean Claude looked. His face was stern and dark, his eyes intense.  
“Jason is scouring the security camera footage for any sign of him, and Micah and Nathaniel are trying to track him in a more traditional way.”  
I nodded and tried to catch my breath but Nathaniel's panic was still too strong. “I have to…find Nathaniel.” I said with my hands on my hips, almost gasping.  
“Then go. I will contact you if we find anything.” He pushed the door into the circus open and I nodded, going into it.  
“You two…not coming?”  
Jean Claude shook his head. “We can do more behind the scenes.”  
I nodded again, turned my back on them and headed into the crowd. I could feel my blood racing through my ears as I got nearer to Nathaniel. He was still looking desperately for Josh but if I didn’t calm him down we’d both hyperventilate. God knows what Damian was going through.  
We almost missed one another, or rather he rushed by me and it was only my above natural reactions that allowed me to grab his upper arms as he passed, swinging us both to face one another. His face was ashen and his eyes welled up as I looked at him. His breathing was as laboured as my own and when he spoke it was too high, too tight.  
“He’s gone.” He gasped. “He’s gone, I’m so sorry.”  
“It’s okay.” I said, taking his face in my hands. “It’s alright, we’ll find him.”  
“I’m sorry.” He said again and I pulled him to me in a tight hug.  
“Really, Nathaniel, it’s okay. It’s not your fault.” I said quietly as we both calmed with one another’s touch. “Please, Nathaniel, just calm down.” I stroked his hair and he shuddered in my arms as his breathing became more even. “Alright now?” I asked, not letting him go. He nodded and I leant back but kept him in my arms. “He evidently has some death wish if he’s wandered off, one I’m going to grant for him.” I smiled slightly, hoping it would calm Nathaniel more.  
“I’m so sorry, Anita. One minute he was there, the next he was gone.”  
“Just tell me what happened while we look.” I said, taking his hand and heading the way he’d been going.  
“Josh and I were standing by the Ferris wheel waiting for Micah, he was getting soda. Graham came over and asked where you were tonight and when I turned around Josh was nowhere to be seen.”  
“Damn. Not your fault the little shit doesn’t listen. Okay, find Graham, see if he saw…”  
“He didn’t.” Nathaniel interrupted. “I asked him if he’d seen where he went and he said no.”  
I frowned at him. It was the truth but there was something else. “What else did he say?”  
Nathaniel looked out into the crowd, avoiding my gaze. “I asked if he’d seen the young guy I was with and he asked if you knew I was dating another guy. When I said he was your brother he laughed.”  
“And said what?” I pressed.  
“I’d better pack my bags or you’d kill me.”  
I shook my head. “You know better than that.”  
“Yeah,  
but he’s your brother and…”  
“Nathaniel.” I said firmly and pulled him to one side. “You’re my boyfriend, my brother being a dick isn’t going to change that.”  
“But…”  
“No buts. Let’s find him and we can all kick his ass.”  
“There you are.” Micah came up behind me.  
“You didn’t find him either.” I said.  
He shook his head. “I think I picked up his scent. I tracked it to the exit.”  
“You think he left?” I said in surprise. Surely he wasn’t that stupid?  
“If it was his scent. I haven’t really had that good a sniff of him.” He shrugged. “And let’s just say this place is full.”  
I knew what he meant. There were more sights, sounds and smells here than your average street. “What about outside?”  
“It’s too breezy. Smells like snow.”  
“You know when we find him I’m going to kill him?” I looked between them.  
“We know that’s how you feel.” Micah put his arm around me. “And we know you won’t actually kill him but he will wish he was dead.”  
“Damn right. He…” I stopped mid sentence as Jean Claude’s voice blew through my mind, bringing goosebumps to my flesh. I turned to Nathaniel. “I need you to take us to the control room. They’re expecting us.”  
“Let’s go.” He grabbed my hand and led us between the two attractions we were stood in front of. We were close to the control room; only moments and a few feet seemed to pass before we were ushered through another dark door marked ‘staff only’. Up a small flight of stairs lit by a dim bulb and through another door.  
Two walls were filled with monitors and control panels showing the circus from various perspectives. Two men monitored the banks on the right wall but ahead of us was one man with Jason standing over him. Jean Claude came towards us from the monitors, his face grim.  
“I think we have discovered what happened to Josh.”  
“C’mere.” Jason beckoned to me.  
“Where were you?” I frowned at him.  
“I went back to my room. I forgot my cell.” He shrugged.  
I sighed. “I’m sorry, Jason, I’m not playing the blame game. What do you have?”  
“Watch this one.” He pointed to the left hand bottom monitor, the guy tapped some buttons and the black and white image played back. It was Nathaniel talking to Graham. You could just see the side of Josh’s head on the bottom right. He turned, seemed to notice something then went off screen. “Now this one.” Jason pointed one up and across from the first. It showed Josh walking behind Nathaniel, towards a gap between attractions.  
“Something caught his eye and he went after it?” I frowned harder.  
“Not something, ma petite,” Jean Claude said from behind me. “Someone.”  
“Here now.” To the right two monitors. Josh was bending with his back to us as though talking to someone small.  
“Oh no.” I whispered.  
“Here.” Jason indicated to the top middle monitor. My worst fear was realised as I watched Josh leave the circus, hand in hand with Valentina. She looked like any other kid out for a night at the circus with her folks, wearing a cute pink parker and jeans, but I knew she was a merciless little bitch who had her hand at the very least on my brother.  
“Asher is trying to find her, to call her back.” Jean Claude said and I looked at him.  
“If she hurts him…”  
“If she lays anything on him, ma petite, you may kill her yourself. Josh is underage, is he not?”  
I nodded as anger started to bubble. “Let’s find them first.”  
“Bartolome has been summoned. He may know if something has caught her fancy.”  
“Like what?” Micah asked as we followed Jean Claude back out of the room.  
“Somewhere she wants to go but needs an adult to accompany her.” He shrugged. “She does this from time to time if I have told her she is not to do something alone.”  
“You let her just pick up strangers from the circus and abduct them?” I let the anger spill out of my mouth and Jean Claude stopped, turning on the steps, halting us all. We were the same height and his eyes bored into mine.  
“She does not feed from them unless they are willing and as she herself has pointed out, most adults are willing to help a lost child home willingly.”  
“Josh wouldn’t.” I shook my head. “Not after all I’ve told him. He was meant to stay with the guys. He wouldn’t leave without telling someone.”  
“I only tell you what she has told me, Anita. I wish your brother safe but if Valentina is innocent I do not want her punished.”  
As Master of the City it was his place but as Josh’s sister I’d teach Valentina a whole new meaning to the word pain if I got my hands on her and Josh was any way less than perfect.  
Jean Claude seemed to sense my thoughts and put a hand on my arm gently. “I promise you if he is harmed in any way you can have her.”  
“And if she bespelled him to get her way?” I asked. It was illegal after all and master’s honey or not I was still The Executioner.  
“I will have a cross bound coffin prepared, just in case.”  
Bartolome met us in the storage area. He was wearing black slacks and a white shirt with a buttoned waistcoat looking for all the world like another innocent kid.  
“You know I do not hold Valentina’s leash, Jean Claude.” He had his arms crossed and tapped his foot impatiently.  
“Non, but you are her constant companion.” Jean Claude reminded him. “Does she have a current obsession?”  
Bartolome sighed dramatically and I resisted the urge to slam him against the wall. He may have been a child bodily however he could have bested me strength wise. “That silly travelling carnival.” He gestured with one hand. “It is all she has talked about since you gave them your permission.”  
“What carnival?” I frowned.  
“The cheaper version of this.” Bartolome waved his hand toward the door back into the circus.  
I looked at Jean Claude in disbelief. “There’s a travelling vampire carnival in town and you didn’t tell me?”  
“It is not a vampire carnival.” He argued. “That is to say it is not solely vampires.”  
“Holy fuck, Jean Claude, please don’t tell me my brother is on his way to a group of vampires who aren’t blood tied to you?” I said, wide eyed.  
“It is not a vampire carnival.” He repeated. “It is a travelling carnival that has vampires and weres among its number. I did not wish to allow them permission, ma petite, but the council…”  
“Always the fucking council.” I interrupted. “Where is it?”  
“I know where it is.” Jason said. Jean Claude gave him a look that said he’d spoken out of turn but Jason never did have any sense. “Sorry, Jean Claude, but you would have told her anyway.”  
“Damn right he would have.” I said. “Okay, game plan, us four, we’re going in.” I indicated to Nathaniel, Micah and Jason. “You,” I poked Jean Claude’s chest, “keep trying to find Valentina and hope to high hell you find her before I do.”  
“Anita,” Jean Claude said warningly.  
“Save it until Josh is safe, Jean Claude.” I went on. “If Josh is safe no harm no foul, I won’t kill her, but you’d better be prepared to teach her a lesson.” I pushed past him and through the door, out into the cold night air.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The hunt for Josh continues at the travelling carnival.

“Next right.” Jason directed me to the turning off the main road. There were signs for the carnival, as if the bright lights weren’t enough, all along the road. The grassed area roped off as a parking lot was pretty full and we parked so far away it took us several minutes to get to the ticket booths at the entrance. A man in garish clown make up smiled at us.  
“Four adults? That’ll be forty bucks.”  
“We’re not here for the fun of the fair.” I pulled out my marshal badge. “We’re looking for someone.”  
The clown’s fake orange eyebrows rose like frightened caterpillars. “Deena!” He called and a woman came out from behind the furthest booth. She was wearing jeans, a blue gingham shirt tied at her waist and a denim jacket, her blonde hair was tied with a braid on either side of her head like a wholesome country girl. Country or not though, vampires were rarely wholesome.  
“What’s up, hon?” She smiled at the clown, expertly hiding her fangs.  
“I think you should talk to these people.” He said and there was no ignoring the plea in his voice.  
“Sure thing.” She beckoned us to one side, beyond the furthest booth where she’d emerged from. There was a stool there and nothing else.  
“How can I help y’all?” She smiled.  
“We’re looking for someone. Two people actually. We think they were heading here.”  
“Does your master know you’re here, girl?” She smiled and her voice twanged with every word.  
“How does a vamp of over one hundred and fifty get such a modern accent?” I asked and her smiled faltered.  
“I didn’t catch your name.” Her accent had lessened now, less country girl. We weren’t the tourists she’d thought we were so no more pretence.  
“I’m Anita Blake. We’re just trying…”  
“Anita Blake?” She interrupted and her face fell. “Who have you come for?”  
“No one.” I insisted, putting my ID in my pocket. “At least no one of yours. We think two of our people were heading here. We desperately need to find one of them in particular.”  
“You taste of anxiety. Who have you lost?” She frowned.  
“You don’t need to know who. We’re just here to find them and get out. We don’t want any trouble.”  
“You’re here and armed with three weres at your back and you don’t want trouble?”  
I smiled apologetically. “Okay, you’ve got me, I always expect trouble, but not from these two. One of them is human, a human who’s not even legal yet. I need him back and the vamp admonished.”  
“Admonished with extreme force?” An amused look crossed her face.  
“Actually she’ll be told to get her ass back to the Master of the City. She’d rather face his wrath than mine.”  
She laughed. “How is it you can scare your masters people more than he can? I know of your reputation and it does make one wonder who is truly the master.”  
“He’s Master of the City.” I shrugged. “And if you know my reputation you’ll know that as much as he’d make them hurt, they’d recover.”  
“Whereas you would just execute them.” She finished for me.  
“That would be illegal without a warrant.” I said simply.   
She turned from me to Micah and looked him up and down. “And where do you fall into all this, Mr extra alpha leopard?”  
Micah stepped forward, his face serious. “I’m her Nimir Raj, her boyfriend.”  
“And you?” She looked at Nathaniel.  
“Boyfriend.” He said.  
She raised her eyebrows then turned to Jason. “I suppose you’re her boyfriend as well, wolf?”  
“Nah I’m just her fuck buddy.” He grinned. “But I am the master’s pomme de sang.”  
She turned back to me, apparently unimpressed by him. “Miss Blake, I cannot allow you in here; the four of you together are quite a tour de force, and if I let you in and something goes wrong.” She spread her arms out. “You can see my predicament.”  
“Fuck, I wish I’d just paid the forty bucks.” I groaned. “Okay, here’s the deal. You get your organ grinder down here, I’ll explain it to him. I’m sick of talking to the monkey.”  
She gave me angry eyes. “I say you are not allowed in without a warrant, Miss Blake, and that is how it stands.”  
“How about just one of us?” Micah said, ever the voice of reason. “I know who we’re looking for and I’ll even pay the ten dollars.”  
“I’d agree to that.” Deena said.  
“Okay.” I nodded. “We’ll wait over there.” I pointed to a small grassed area lit by the entrance lights.  
“I can bring chairs for you, if you wish.” Deena asked.  
“You’d do that?” I said in surprise.  
“I just received new orders.” She smiled simply. “This way Mr…”  
“Callahan.” Micah said and followed her. She let him through and didn’t take the ten dollars he offered her.  
“Find him for me.” I called and Micah smiled reassuringly then was lost in the crowd.  
“I don’t like these new orders.” I said quietly as we moved away from the booths.  
“Bet you the organ grinder shows up.” Jason said simply.  
“Yeah, that worries me too. Of all the damn things to happen.” I shook my head.  
“Josh will be okay.” Jason put his hand on my shoulder. “Valentina isn’t stupid.”  
“She’s not exactly bright if she keeps bespelling people at the circus.” I said watching as more people paid the extortionate fare to get in.  
“Yeah but she’s never been caught or had complaints about it.”  
“So she’s sneaky. That doesn’t make her bright.” I replied.  
“If they’re here, Micah will find them.” Nathaniel said from behind Jason.  
I sighed. “I know. Company.” I said as two men in jeans and jackets brought out four chairs and put them down for us then left. They were plastic garden chairs that had seen better days but they seemed stable enough. I sat first and Nathaniel and Jason followed suit, one sitting on either side of me. “Four chairs and only three of us? We’re definitely going to get company.”  
As though on cue I felt a master vampire coming towards us. Over four hundred years old he caught all our attention and the three of us turned as one to watch him as he came through the crowd towards us. He was tall, but compared to me who wasn’t? Six foot one with broad shoulders tapering into a slender lower body. His hair was almost white it was so blonde and hung in a tight pony tail tied at the base of his neck to halfway down his back. He was dressed simply, blending in with the rest of the staff in jeans and t-shirt but there was no mistaking the air of authority as he walked. He smiled as he approached but it failed to meet his eyes. He wasn’t keen on having The Executioner show up on his temporary doorstep.  
“Miss Anita Blake.” He bowed slightly and offered me his hand as I stood.  
“And you are?” I shook his hand.  
“Ocean.” He bowed his head. “I have heard a lot about you, Miss Blake. What brings you to my carnival?”  
“Don’t believe everything you hear.” I said. “I’m looking for someone and it’s not an execution, its personal.” I said, making sure we had everything clear from the start.  
“And your friends are…?” he prompted.  
“Nathaniel Graison and Jason Schulyer.” I replied. “And Micah is in the carnival looking for our missing companions.”  
“How did you come to lose two companions?” He held his arm out to indicate we should sit again so I did.  
“One of them wandered off with the other.”   
“And I believe one is illegal?”  
“Underage.” I nodded.  
“Is it not a little careless of the Master of the City’s human servant to be associating with an illegal?” He raised his eyebrows. “Unless you have a personal interest in this individual?”  
I smiled. “I’m sorry, I don’t want to discuss this. I just want the two of them found and brought back to the circus.”  
He nodded. “Very well. We are here for another three days. I would very much like to meet with the master while we are here.”  
“I can’t make that call.” I said simply. “If you want to meet with Jean Claude you can arrange that yourself. I’m not his social secretary.”  
Ocean seemed surprised by my response. Always fun to scare an ancient vamp. “We have a grand finale on our last night. Would you extend our invitation to the master?”  
“Sure, why not.” I shrugged. “I’ll pass it on.”   
“I hope you find your missing friends.” He said, standing.  
“It’d help if you let me in there to hunt for them too.” I stood.  
“I don’t think my people would appreciate The Executioner roaming freely through our midst.”  
“Your people.” I said. “You’re in charge then?”  
“I am.” He nodded.  
“Maybe you could escort me round? That way you have me covered and I get to look for the little bastard causing me all this hassle?” Perhaps I could appeal to his better nature, if he had one, and let him feel like he was in control.  
“If you agree to leave your weapons here I would gladly escort you but I don’t think that will happen.” He smiled knowingly.  
I thought about it for a moment. Could I get away with taking off some and him assuming it was all? Probably not. I’d try something else first. “How about I get to keep half of them?”  
“One.” He said.  
“Three.”  
“One.”  
“Three.” I tried again.  
“None.” He smiled.  
“Two.” I smiled back.  
“None.”   
I frowned. “Alright, one.”  
“Agreed and I get to choose which one.”   
“I didn’t agree to that.” I put my hands on my hips. I’d thought I’d won at least a small victory but I guess I was wrong.  
“But it is another condition.” He shrugged. “Take it or leave it.”  
“Dammit.” I said. “Alright I have the gun and two wrist sheaths.” I omitted the Firestar, hoping I could get away with it.  
“You may keep the knife on your right wrist.”  
“Forget it.” I sat down again.  
“You would give up your opportunity to search?” He raised his eyebrows at me.  
He had me there. And I still had the Firestar for now. I stood up again. “I get to keep the knife on my left.”  
“I’m sorry, Miss Blake.” He shook his head and turned away.  
“Oh alright.” I said and took the Browning out of the holster. I handed it to Nathaniel then removed the left knife giving that to Jason. “Satisfied?” I glared at him.  
“Almost.” He smiled. “I’d like to pat you down before we enter.”  
“I bet you would.” I turned around and took my gun back off Nathaniel and my knife back off Jason. “Forget it. I trust Micah enough to search for them and he has a nasal advantage over me.”  
“You’re sure?”  
“Positive.” I crossed my arms.  
“As you wish. Please pass my request on to your master for me.” And he went back the way he came.  
“Bastard.” I sat back down between them. I took my cell phone out of my pocket and called the circus. The phone rang several times before Jean Claude answered.   
“Oui, ma petite?”  
“The head vamp here wants us to come down for their grand finale.” I said.  
“Have you found Valentina?” he asked.  
“No. They’re being assholes and won’t let me in armed and unescorted.”  
“I am not surprised.” He sighed. “But when it comes down to it they are here under the council’s law and they must respect it. To harm you would leave their lives forfeit.”  
“But the council want me dead anyway.” I argued.  
“I don’t think they are here to kill you, ma petite. Ocean does not like his people serving the council any more than I do.”  
“You know Ocean?” I asked.  
“Our paths have crossed in the past.”  
“Are you on good terms?”  
“I would trust him enough to suggest you allow him to escort you.”  
“Seriously?” I asked. “Because they won’t let Nathaniel or Jason in with me. Seems like they don’t want us together on their turf.”   
“But they will allow Micah?” He asked.  
“He’s already in there. Alone.” I replied pointedly. “They let him in.” I covered the mouthpiece for a second and said to Jason; “Go tell them to get Ocean back here.”  
“Trust Ocean as much as you are able, ma petite. He is not our enemy, yet.”  
“You know I was fine until you added yet on the end of that.” I took the Browning out again and gave it to Nathaniel.   
“You do not like sugar coating.”   
“No, I don’t.” I sighed. “Sometimes I wish I did.”  
“Truly?”  
“Nope.” I smiled. “I’ll call you as soon as I have something, Jean Claude.” I hung up. “Sometimes I wish I had some sneaky little toys like Edward.”  
“You’re really going in?” Jason looked at me with worry in his eyes.  
“You heard Jean Claude. Trust him, sort of. Put these in the car for me.” I gave him my wrist sheaths and Firestar. “I can’t believe I’m doing this.” I shook my head.  
“Neither can I.” He looked at me wide eyed. “You never, ever go anywhere unarmed. Except to bed.”  
“Except there. In fact keep the guns handy. I want the Browning back at least as soon as I’m back.”  
“I’ll stow everything. Don’t worry.” He smiled. “Any more than you already are anyway.”  
“Yeah. I’ll try.” I offered him a small smile.


	12. Chapter 12

Ocean had patted me down and found nothing, of course. Now I was walking by his side through the carnival. The winter wind was blowing through the stalls but that hadn’t stopped the place filling with people. I wondered how many people considered it acceptable to come here but not the circus.   
“It would help if I knew who you were looking for.” Ocean said as we walked past a coconut shy.  
“Jean Claude said you know the council?” I asked.  
“I do have that,” he cleared his throat, “pleasure.”  
“Do you know Bartolome and Valentina?”  
“I have met them twice. And they are not the kind you forget.”  
“We’re looking for Valentina.” I glanced around for a better look at a small blonde girl and realised it wasn’t her.  
“Valentina is in my carnival?” He pulled my arm to make me stop. “Who is the illegal she has with her?”   
“No one you’d know. A seventeen year old boy.”  
“Does he look like a man?”  
“In this light, yeah he does. He’s not far off eighteen actually.” I sighed. “If he lasts that long.”  
“You fear for him with Valentina?”  
“You’ve met her, you tell me.”  
“As long as she gets her way he is in no danger.” We resumed our search.  
“Thankfully we think her way was only to get here.”  
“Anita.” I turned as I felt and heard Micah at the same time.  
“Did you find them?” I left Ocean’s side and went to him.  
“Not them but someone who saw them.” He looked at Ocean who came to stand behind me. “Who’s this?”  
“Ocean. Leader of this merry band. What did you find?”  
He took my hand in his. “Someone saw a couple who matched their description talking at one of the side shows. They thought it was odd because the child walked off and left the adult there.”  
“Which one?” I felt my chest tighten. Please let it be him and let him be okay.  
“The shapeshifter show.” He looked at me sadly.  
“Not that again.” I shook my head and he took me in a hug.  
“I can take you there, if you wish.” Ocean said from behind me.  
“Please.” I said and tried to move away from Micah but he held me to him.  
He whispered into my hair; “Why are you unarmed?”  
I squeezed him tight and whispered; “It’s the only way they’d let me in.”  
He nodded slightly and let me go.  
“This way.” Ocean said and led us into the crowd.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So much going on in this chapter!
> 
> Anita and Micah meet the were's of the carnival and learn who Josh was last seen with. Josh makes contact and Anita needs a glazier.

The sideshow advertised the shifting of various kinds of were. They were between shows and Ocean led us through the curtain unchallenged. A wolfman, leopardman and lionman turned and looked at us. They were leaving the stage at the back but stopped, taking us in. Another man, boy, a leopard I thought, came towards us, beckoned by Ocean.  
“What’s up?” He asked Ocean but stared at Micah and I.  
“Have you seen a young human male?” Ocean said, stopping a few feet ahead of us, “In the company of a vampire child?”  
The man frowned. “There was a vamp child earlier. I remember thinking it was odd because that’s not allowed, right?” Ocean nodded. “I can’t remember the guy she was with though.” He leant closer to me and sniffed. I leant back.  
“Any closer, kitty, and I’ll smack you on the nose with a newspaper.”  
He moved back again. “Sorry but you…” he closed his eyes and tilted his head to one side, “you’re something.” He opened his eyes again, eyes that were slightly greener than they had been a moment ago.  
I felt for Micah’s hand and squeezed it when I found it. The three weres who had been leaving the stage when we came in were heading towards us and I didn’t like the attention we were getting, not when I was unarmed.  
“How long ago did you see her?” Micah asked, taking a step forward and putting himself slightly ahead of me. Normally that would have made me mad but right now he was the most lethal out of the two of us.  
“Before the last show.” He frowned at Micah. “What are the two of you?”  
“We lead the Blooddrinkers and Maneaters clans together. We are Nimir Ra and Raj.”  
“But you smell of lukoi.” The wolfman said as he walked around us. I released Micah’s hand and turned with him, keeping him in sight.  
“I’m Lupa to Thronnos Rokke.” I felt my pulse jump as he smiled at me. It wasn’t right with a muzzle, more a fanged sneer. Each of the weres in halfman form were over a foot taller than either Micah or I. This had been a bad idea.  
“And you are Regina to who?” The lionman said and I felt him raise his hand to my left. I grabbed his wrist without looking as his fingers brushed my hair. “Don’t touch me.”  
“I saw the boy with the vampire kid.” He smiled as I turned to glare at him.   
“Do not play with her.” Ocean spoke firmly. “She’s servant to the Master of the City.”  
“Which makes you Anita Blake.” The kid still in human form said.  
“Where was he?” I said, not letting the lion go.  
“They were here before the show. The vamp went off on her own, the kid stayed and talked to Azure.”  
Ocean sighed and the guy in human form shifted uneasily. “Him going with this Azure is a bad thing?” Micah said as I released the lion.  
“It could have been worse.” Ocean said.  
The wolfman laughed, a growling chuckle. “Not much worse, boss.”  
I turned angrily to Ocean. “You’d better find me this Azure and he’d better be okay. That boy is under my protection.”  
“Not doing too good a job, are we?” The half leopard man said and it was only Micah’s hand on my arm that stopped me from hitting him.  
“Don’t fuck with me, pussy, I’m not in the mood!” I snapped.  
“Where can we find Azure?” Micah asked, letting me go.  
“Nero?” Ocean looked at the boy who was still in human form.  
“Probably in her RV.” He said. “Want me to take them?”  
“Yes.” Ocean replied and turned to us. “I’ll send your friends to you.”  
“And my weapons?”  
“Try not to use them. Wait for your friends.” Ocean said and left. I didn’t like that. The others weren’t on their best behaviour with him there but at least they listened to him.  
“What can we expect from Azure?” Micah said, leading me towards Nero and away from the half-man were’s.  
“She’s our alpha.” Nero said.  
“And she likes little boys, right, Nero?” The leopard man purred from behind us.  
I tried to ignore him but it was hard as I knew his eyes, along with the other two, were on us. “I just need to get this kid back in one piece.” I said to Nero.  
“We’d better move then.” The look on his face worried me as we headed for the exit, as though time was a major issue. An alpha were woman who liked young boys wasn’t top of my list of people to meet. Pretty near the top of people whose ass to kick, but not to meet.  
“Call Jean Claude.” I glanced at Micah. “Tell him we think Valentina has ditched him.”  
“Good luck.” One of the were-men called. “You’ll need it.” Their laughter followed us out of the tent, Nero cringing at their taunts.  
I finally got to look at him properly, or rather took the time to take him in. He didn’t look much older than Josh and that gave me pause for thought. He didn’t even look like he’d started shaving yet. His baby fine hair was neatly trimmed and he looked more like he should be heading to a library to study than working at a carnival, let alone be a were. I assumed he was one of Azure’s previous interests.  
“How old are you, Nero?” I asked as he led us through the crowd. Micah was talking on his cell, trying to hear and be heard over the noise.  
“I’ll be nineteen in March.” He said.  
“Interesting career choice.”   
He laughed. “Yeah, that was what I thought.”  
“Can you offer me any advice where Azure is concerned?”  
He looked at me and he smelt of the fear that was reflected in his eyes at the mention of her name. “Don’t piss her off.”  
“If she’s got this kid I can’t promise that.” I shook my head. “How old were you when she infected you?”  
“How did you know she did it?” He said in surprise.  
I raised my eyebrows. “Seriously? Your buddies back there say she likes little boys, which seemed to be directly aimed at you, and you’re not exactly old. If she has a penchant for younger men, well you’re about the same age as Josh. Stands to reason.”  
“I guess so.” He put his hands in his pockets. “How come you’re so worried about this kid? I mean I know he’s underage but I bet The Executioner has better things to do with her time than chase after stupid kids.”  
“He’s my brother.” I said, looking at him. He was only a couple of inches taller than Nathaniel, making him about five eight. His eyes went wide.  
“This could get messy.” He offered me a small apologetic smile.  
“In what way?” I frowned as he stopped at the last booth before it gave way to trailers and RV’s.  
“She doesn’t give up her interest in someone easily and not only are you the law but this kid is illegal and your brother?” He shook his head. “Neither of you are going to want to take no for an answer.”  
“She’ll give him back or she’ll die.” I looked at him seriously.  
“Good luck.” He shook his head.   
I frowned. “I need you to leave us, once we get there. You seem like a nice kid, Nero, I don’t want to shoot you because you protected her.”  
“Don’t worry.” He held his hands up in a gesture of surrender. “I don’t want to protect her. I don’t really want to be anywhere near her for long.”  
“All the same, cannon fodder is cannon fodder. We get there, you leave us.” A look crossed his face I recognised, one I knew I had, one I’d seen on Josh only earlier today. Defiance. He was thinking about arguing with me. “Seriously, big guns make bigger messes of weres.”  
He sighed. “I’ll stay out of the way.”  
“Anita!” I heard Nathaniel through the crowd and turned to see him and Jason coming towards us with Ocean just behind. There was no sign of my weapons in their hands but then running around waving a couple of guns and knives wasn’t the wisest of moves. We moved down the side of the booth so we were out of the crowd and slightly out of sight. Nathaniel took the Browning out of his jacket pocket as Jason handed me the Firestar and knives. Once I was fully armed again I looked at Ocean.   
“You might want to leave us now.” I said simply.  
“Will you promise not to kill her, if you can help it?” he said seriously.  
“If she lets Josh go then I’m out of here with him and she’s fine, she’s free but if she’s causing this many problems aren’t you better off without her?”  
Ocean glanced at Nero who just shrugged. “I didn’t say anything.”  
“He really didn’t.” I said as Ocean turned back. “But if she likes boys on the turn into adulthood she’s playing with fire. Sometimes it’s best to nip these things in the bud.”  
“I will speak with her once this is over.” He replied. “Providing you leave me something to speak to.”  
“I’ll see what I can do.”  
He nodded. “Her RV is the third from the right on the back row. Come, Nero.”  
“Good luck.” Nero said again as he followed Ocean back into the carnival.  
“He doesn’t seem too worried that you might kill one of his leopards.” Micah said, standing at my left elbow.  
“No, he doesn’t. He’d rather I didn’t but if I do doesn’t seem he’ll lose any sleep over it.”  
“So what’s going on?” Jason asked. We explained it to him as we walked to the back row then three RV’s over. “So she might right now be doing to Josh what you just convinced him he needed to get educated about first?”  
“Maybe.” I swallowed, trying not to think about it. I was hoping she wasn’t a straight to the point kind of girl and liked foreplay first, a lot of foreplay.  
There was a single light on in the RV but the curtains were drawn. None of us could hear anything from inside, either movement or voices, but the light was on so maybe someone was home. I knocked on the door with my left hand hard enough that it stung. My right held my Browning down by my leg, just in case. Better to have it and not need it yada yada yada. There was no answer so I banged again, harder this time. Again no answer. I’d had enough. I levelled the gun at the lock but Micah pushed it back down again. “Let’s try and be subtle, at least noise wise.” He said simply. He moved back and shifted his hands into claws. Stepping up on the steps into the trailer he put a hand on each of the hinges and pushed his clawed fingers into the soft metal of the RV. Gripping the hinges he pulled and the door came away easily.  
“Nice.” I said simply and hopped up the stairs past him. I swept the place with my gun first. It was one of those luxury RV’s with a couple of bedrooms, living room and kitchen all separate. I went around the doors, kicking them in and sweeping them as the others checked the open areas. There was no one here. “Dammit.” I said with feeling.  
“Do we sit and wait for them to come back or find Ocean again?” Micah asked, his hands back to normal.  
“I don’t know.” I said, suddenly unsure. I should put up my gun, I knew that, but holding it made me feel better. It was good and solid and I knew what to do with it. I didn’t know what to do with no lead.  
“We find Ocean and we see if he has any idea where else she might be.” Nathaniel said coming up beside me. I nodded. “And you put the gun up.”  
I looked at him, surprised by the apparent order. He offered me a small smile that told me I already knew I shouldn’t still be holding the gun so I put it up. No point in waving it around or clinging to it like a security blanket.  
We started out of the RV when my phone started to ring. I pulled it from my pocket, it was my home number. “Its home.” I said, confused as we were all here.  
“Could be Damian wondering what was wrong earlier.” Nathaniel suggested.  
“He was working tonight.” I shook my head. I hit the answer button and put the phone to my ear. “Hello?”  
“Hi.” It was Josh.  
“Josh? You’re back at my place? What happened?” I said, relieved and angry all at once. The boys moved in on either side of me to listen in and it didn’t annoy me, Josh was top of my annoyance list right now.  
“I’m here but,” he sighed, “can you come home?”  
“Of course. We’ll be there as soon as we can.”  
Josh was quiet for a moment. “Just you, Anita.”  
Micah stepped away from me and shook his head frantically. “Is she there?” He mouthed.  
I nodded. Good point. Somehow I don’t see Azure dropping him off at the door as a favour. A potentially nasty wereleopard in my house with my baby brother wanting me to go home alone? Didn’t sound like a good idea to me. “What’s wrong?” I tried to sound like I didn’t have any suspicions.  
“I’m a little embarrassed.” He said. “And I’d rather keep the body count down.” Body count down? He’d either been hanging out with me too much or he was trying to give me a hint. Was there more than just her there?  
“You’d rather just two of us, than more?” I said hoping he picked up on what I meant.  
“Just the two of us. Tell Micah, Nathaniel and Jason I’ll see them later, okay?” If we weren’t speaking at crossed purposes and he’d got my meaning that meant there were three of them, including Azure. Of course he really might not have a clue what I was trying to get him to do.  
“Okay, Josh. I’m on my way. Don’t go anywhere else.”  
“Like I would.” And it was sad, as though he should have said ‘could’ instead of would. Like he could, because he can’t. I hung up.  
“So at least three.” Jason said.  
“Three including Azure I think, yeah.” I nodded as we finally left the RV, heading back towards the carnival and after that the parking lot.  
“Is Josh the kind of kid to brag?” Micah asked and I looked at him curiously. “You know, say how she doesn’t scare him, his sister is Nimir Ra and sweetie to the Master of the City?”  
I looked at him a little wide eyed. “Maybe. If he felt threatened.”  
Micah smiled sadly. “Oh dear.”  
“You don’t think she’ll try to get the Pard through Josh do you?” Nathaniel asked.  
I looked at him and his eyes showed the worry I felt radiating from him. “I think she’ll try.” I said as my resolve set. “Better people than her have tried.”  
“You haven’t met her yet.” Nathaniel pointed out.  
“Yeah but I bet she’s no Chimera. Not even close.”   
This seemed to make him think for a moment and he smiled. “We’ve kicked badder ass than hers.”  
“We have.” I nodded. It sounded cocky but if it was just her and two other alphas she’d probably already lost. Jason seemed to be making sure of it. He was on his cell phone, speaking to I assumed Jean Claude. He hung up and turned to us.  
“Jean Claude, Asher and Requiem will go on ahead and do the super secret squirrel thing. Once we get there they’ll lurk around until you need them.”  
“And you guys will be lurking too?” I smiled slightly. I couldn’t imagine any of them lurking, vamps or weres.   
“Of course…what’s so funny?” he frowned.  
“I’m sorry but vamps don’t lurk, they’re too stylish and you guys, well you don’t lurk either. You kind of…slink.”  
“Okay, we’ll be slinking around, happy?”  
“Not even close.” I shook my head.   
We reached the cashiers and Ocean was waiting for us. He glanced at the four of us, just the four of us. “You did not find them.”  
“No, but I know where they are.” I gave him a hard look. “If she does what I think she’s thinking of doing you could be down three by morning.”  
“What three?” He frowned.  
“I don’t know. Whatever three are waiting for me and me alone at my house.” I scowled.  
“They are at your home? You’re sure?” He frowned and fell into step behind us as we passed.  
“I’m sure.”  
“I will come with you.” I stopped and looked at him for a moment. “I may be able to talk her out of doing something stupid.”  
I nodded. “Okay, but you take my orders. I don’t want anyone hurt unnecessarily.”  
“Neither do I.” He smiled slightly.  
I realised we both had a stake in this, no vampire pun intended. It was one of the carnival’s leopards causing trouble with me, possibly my Pard, but most importantly it would be a direct challenge to Jean Claude and his authority, through me. The council didn’t like things like that. They might, if they thought it might get rid of me, but they couldn’t threaten me and it not reverberate through the entire were and vamp society of St Louis, in a round about way.   
We drove to within two blocks of our house and the guys all unloaded. Even on foot they could beat me to the house so that’s what they were going to do. They’d rendezvous with Jean Claude and co and hide in the trees around the house. Jean Claude made contact with me mind to mind as I drove ensuring me they were there and he was only a hard thought away. I’d smiled at that. He was never further than that from my mind as it was but knowing he was there for me in my hour of need helped. I pulled into the drive. There were no lights on in the house, there was no car other than Micah’s on the drive. I wondered if they’d taken a cab here because Josh couldn’t run like a were and I doubted they could cover this much ground so quickly with a teenage human holding them back. I got out of the jeep, locked it and shoved the key in my pocket. I wanted both my hands free. I didn’t draw my gun, I knew I was being watched from the house, from the darkness of the living room window no doubt, my only comfort was I was also being watched from the trees by people I trusted with my life, people I trusted with Josh’s life.  
I opened the front door and called; “Josh, are you here?”  
“I’m in the kitchen.” He called, his voice tense.  
I fought not to glance into the living room but as soon as I was clear of the doorway I drew my Browning. I kept it by my right thigh as I went through the door. Sure enough Josh was there, standing in the middle of the room, and behind him stood a tall woman with auburn hair caught up in a fancy knot at the back. Her skin was the pale of a true red head and I wondered if she’d had freckles on that beautiful face in her youth. She was as tall as Josh but I think the four inch stiletto heels helped. Her outfit and heels were midnight blue, like Jean Claude’s eyes. Every curve of her body was accentuated by the figure hugging catsuit that was cut low on the chest, showing breasts that any man would stare at and any woman would call the genuineness of into question. She smiled with lips half parted as she stepped up behind him, so close that her slim frame was protected by him.  
“You must be Anita Blake.” She purred.  
“And you’re Azure.” I squared off in front of her.  
“You know who I am?” She raised elegant eyebrows in surprise.  
“I know who you are and I have Ocean’s permission to kick your ass if you’ve harmed him.” I nodded towards Josh. I hadn’t looked at him properly yet, I didn’t think I could. I knew what look would be on his face; he was scared, he reeked of it, if I looked at my little brother right now I might be undone, or at least distracted.  
“He’s unharmed, aren’t you, Joshy?” She curled a finger in his hair and he visibly tensed.  
“I’m fine.” He said but his voice was strained, tight.  
“Let him go and we’ll talk terms.”  
“If he leaves we have no terms to speak of. I lose my leverage. I like leverage.” As though to make the point she grasped the hair of Josh’s scalp and bent his head back, exposing the pale line of his neck. He gasped and I could see the pulse dancing in his neck. Poor kid.  
“You want my Pard.” I made it a statement.  
“I want your Nimir Raj.” She said trailing gloved fingers around Josh’s throat. “The Pard are a bonus though.”  
“What would you do if I said you can’t have either of them?” I sensed movement to my left, nothing definite, just a flicker. I knew where one of her companions was, at least roughly.  
“Ma petite?” Jean Claude’s voice came in my head and I let him in, let him see through my eyes, gave him my thoughts about the movement to my left. I still didn’t know if there was another here or where it was. “Bon.” He whispered simply and I realised in doing that I’d missed most of what she’d said.  
“Sorry, can you say that again?”  
She blinked as though surprised. “Tell her what I said, Joshy.”  
“She said she’d rape me and cut me up while you watched then take the Pard anyway, especially Micah.”  
“Micah is such a lovely name.” She said and she licked Josh’s throat as she said ‘lovely’.  
“You’re not leopard enough to keep Micah happy.” I smiled evilly.  
“I’m more leopard than you.” She snarled her lips still close to Josh’s throat.  
“Maybe you can go furry but I know you aren’t Nimir Ra, you don’t have enough power.” She growled and lashed out with that power but she couldn’t touch me, not with Jean Claude in my head and Micah and Nathaniel so close, not with my leopard pricking up her ears at the threat. “You’re not even leoparde lionne, are you?” I frowned. “What makes you think Micah would take a lionne passsant?”  
“What makes you think he has a choice? If you die, I take over Blooddrinkers and everyone knows that Maneaters and Blooddrinkers are one.”  
“And as one he would lead them. In fact it’s a moot point because I’m not the one dying tonight.” I gave a dismissive shrug.  
“You arrogant little bitch.” She spat but she did release Josh a little, no longer holding his hair, putting her face just behind his head.  
“Put the gun down.” A deep male voice said from the shadows of the hall on my left. Guess the others were coming out to play.  
“I’ll put the gun down when she releases him.” I said without shifting my gaze from Azure.  
“I don’t want to release him.” She sneered. “He smells like fear and his heart is beating a mile a minute.” She closed her eyes as though she were enjoying the sensation.  
“Anita?” Josh said, his voice unsure.  
“Yeah, Josh?”  
“Even if she scratched me, I could still be in your Pard, right?”  
I smiled reassuringly at him. “Yeah, you can still be in my Pard.”  
“Good.”  
I had a second to realise he was going to do something and my eyes went wide. I opened myself to Jean Claude with the phrase; “get in here!” knowing the shit was going to hit the fan in a big way. Josh flicked his head back, fast, taking her in the nose and she screamed in anger more than anything but Josh knew what I’d needed was a distraction. I swung the gun just enough to fire into the doorway and pulled my Firestar left handed. The large glass paned door smashed in and a blur I knew was Micah crashed into Josh and Azure, taking them both to the floor but dragging Azure off Josh in the process. I appreciated that, right up until I heard Josh cry out. I didn’t waste time to look at him as the movement from the doorway hit me with a thud, jarring the Firestar from me and pinning the Browning under me. It was a man, I’d known that from the voice, but he was huge, over six foot four if the length that covered me was anything to go by, and at least twice as wide as me. My Firestar might have been gone but that didn’t mean my left hand was useless. I grabbed the guy’s throat and pushed. I knew I wouldn’t be able to do any real damage but at least I could keep him away from my face. Or that was the theory. Of course he still had two free hands if he wanted them. With one hand he knocked my arm away, hard enough to make it tingle but I didn’t just lay there, I couldn’t, I hit him with the arm again and he snarled at me, grabbing the arm and pinning it above my head. “Don’t, Miss Blake.” He said.  
“Don’t yourself.” I said, sensing movement from the door again.  
I felt a cool breeze caress my skin and knew Jean Claude had entered the room, probably with Asher and Requiem right behind him…or would have if Requiem had ever been invited into my house before. Dammit. I’d argue with Jean Claude about his choice later but for now I tensed knowing something was coming, but not what.  
Jean Claude didn’t so much push the man off me as he touched his shoulder and he flew sideways into the cabinets. Trouble was he still had hold of my wrist in a vice like grip and apparently wasn’t letting go. I was sort of dragged behind him with the force of Jean Claude’s blow and as his back hit the cabinets I hit him. But that didn’t matter, my Browning was free. I pushed it into his ribs, aiming up and fired. It was times like this I regretted that the first two bullets weren’t silver as I didn’t get a chance to get off a second shot, let alone a third. He flung me back across the kitchen but Asher was there, catching me easily as I spun the gun back towards my target and fired but he’d moved, lightning fast and out of the room, leaving a big hole in the cupboard door.  
Asher put me back on the floor. “Are you alright, ma chere?”  
“Fine, Requiem,” I yelled, “you’re invited into my house!” and I charged off into the living room where Micah and Azure had gone. Nathaniel was with Josh and that was good enough for me. The room was a mess, but given that two fighting weres had come through here it wasn’t a surprise; one of the chairs was on its back and the coffee table didn’t seem to have any legs, but what was a surprise was that Micah had the woman on the floor already, holding her arms behind her back and in place with his knee. She was shouting and bucking but he was hardly moved by it. She kicked a leg back to try and kick him but he caught it and added it to the grip so she was as good as hog tied.  
“If you really want I can do the other leg too and see how you like that.” Micah said firmly but it just seemed to enrage her more as she fought his hold. He looked up at me and offered a small smile. “Some people just don’t listen.” He grabbed her other leg as it flailed at him and pinned that too. “There are more of them.”  
“I know.” I said simply. “Hang on to the pissant passant, I’m going to flush them out.” Now if I were an invading wereleopard where would I lay in wait? My bedroom or the basement I guess. But any dark corner would work. I went out of the living room into the hall, sweeping it with my gun.   
Jean Claude came out of the kitchen to join me. “Ma petite?” He asked.  
“Just sweeping up.” I said, not wanting to say where I was going out loud.   
“You know a good housewife works top to bottom.” He cast me a knowing glance.  
“Yeah, Nathaniel’s a good housewife.” I smiled back. Despite the seriousness we’d faced worse and to be honest I’d expected more of a threat. In fact maybe the problem had been that Josh was in danger but now he was safe it seemed like an easy job. Or less of a worrying one.  
“I have certainly seen how happy you are with his housekeeping.”   
“Always helps to have a man in.” I said continuing the banter as I went upstairs, hugging the wall with my gun pointed down.  
He actually laughed. I think I caught him off guard, or maybe it was on purpose as nothing Jean Claude did was an accident, because goosebumps appeared all over my body and my legs gave out as I gasped.   
“Not the time for that, Jean Claude.” I muttered and frowned at him.  
He crouched beside me. “My apologies, ma petite,” he murmured, “but while you were distracted I heard at least four different groans from your boudoir.”  
“Four?” I whispered.  
“Oui, at least. It could have been more.”  
“What did she do, bring everyone but Nero?”  
“Nero?” He frowned at me.  
“Never mind.” I shook my head. “Back downstairs.”  
We got two steps down before the bedroom door burst open. I didn’t stop to see how many came running out but the scent of leopard reached my nostrils and I knew we’d never make it. Jean Claude grabbed me around the waist and launched us upwards off the stairs to land over the upstairs banister outside the spare room door.  
“Thanks.” I said, taking aim over the side but they’d already gone in a mass of black and spotty fur. “Down again and then you get Josh out for me.”  
“Asher is taking Josh to safety now. He is fine.” Jean Claude took us over and down the stairs again in a blur.  
The half leopard men who were in my room were all crouched around the living room, staring at Micah and Azure. There were eight in total. “No one come any closer, no one do anything or your alpha dies.” Micah said simply. I didn’t think I’d ever heard him say anything so threatening before and it made things tighten deep down, reminding me why we were such a good match. He was almost as practical as me, more so in some ways.  
“Do it.” One of the leopard men said.  
“You rush him, kitty, and you’re number one with a bullet.” I said pointing my gun at his head from the doorway.  
“I don’t want to rush him; we don’t want her as our alpha any more.”  
“What?” Azure screamed from the floor. Micah shoved her face down so it was muffled.  
“Yes,” Micah said, “what?”  
“She’s a bitch.” One of the spotted leopards on my right said. “She sucks as an alpha and to be honest we’ve all had enough.”  
I blinked a couple of times. “You were all hiding in my bedroom. You came running out to attack us.”  
“No, we came running out because we thought it was over.” One of them shook his head. “We hoped you’d kill her.”  
I pointed the gun at the floor. “You mean you guys aren’t leopard enough to take her out so you want us to do your dirty work for you?”  
The one nearest the door turned green eyes on me. “Yeah.”  
The bathroom door opened and I spun my gun to see the man who’d jumped me coming out with his hands up. “In the room with the others.” I waved him in with my gun. Him and Azure were the only ones still in human form and he took a seat on the couch as far from Azure as he could get. He had a bloody hole in his top where I’d shot him but as it was steel it was no big deal for him to heal it. “Will someone please explain what’s going on?”  
Ocean came in from the kitchen. “I think I can.”  
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Who invited you in?”  
“I did.” Nathaniel followed him through.  
I nodded. That was fine. “Get explaining.”  
“I think what we have is a palace coup.”   
I rolled my eyes. “Great, politics again.”  
“Indeed. Azure isn’t the easiest of people to get along with.”  
A couple of the leopards exchanged glances and one coughed; “Understatement.”  
I narrowed my eyes at him. “You knew she planned on trying to kill me?”  
“I knew she was not adverse to the idea of a Nimir Raj and Pard of her own but Azure is more of an opportunist. It’s unlikely that she would have sought you out.” He shrugged. “But I also know she could not beat you and that the rest of the leopards would not mind.”  
I stared at him for a moment. “So you would have been okay with it even though you asked me not to hurt her?”  
“I asked you to try not to use your weapons.” He smiled slyly.  
Azure, still on the floor, started to complain, loudly, about how she could take me. Micah rolled his eyes as though it was getting tiresome and shifted his weight so one knee was on her neck. It didn’t look comfortable for him or her but I knew which position I’d rather be in. The carpet took some of the volume out of her rant which was fine with me.   
“I don’t get it; if I killed her wouldn’t that mean I’d end up taking over your Pard too?” I looked around the leopards.  
“Not exactly, no.” The guy who had attacked me in the kitchen said.  
“I don’t want to hear it from you, you were only too happy to jump me.” I pointed the gun at him like a wagging finger.  
“May I?” A spotted leopard on my right said. This was a leopard woman and her voice was a gentler growl than that of the male leopards. The man nodded and she turned yellow eyes on me. “We aren’t actually a Pard like you are, we’re classed by the council as a wandering troupe which means if you killed her we would have the choice to join you or stay with the carnival.”  
“So if I killed her you were all free to decide what you wanted?”  
“As long as it was between yourself and the carnival, yes.” She bobbed her head.  
I looked around them for a moment. I was a little confused. “Can someone start at the beginning as to how you all ended up here?”  
“I’ll tell you as I rip your throat out!” Azure screamed as she suddenly bucked and Micah lost his balance. She still couldn’t get up but she could shout.  
Micah looked up at Ocean. “Do you mind if I…”  
“Feel free.” Ocean shrugged.  
I wasn’t sure Ocean knew what Micah was planning, even I wasn’t sure, but all he did was pick up a table leg and smashed her over the head with it so she lost consciousness.  
“Thank you.” I smiled at him.  
“A pleasure. She was making my ears ring.” He said sitting back but still not letting her go.  
“Ma petite, here.” Jean Claude came out of the cellar door and handed me some chains. I frowned at him but it was Micah who answered.  
“We thought it would be an idea to keep something capable of holding a were in place.”  
“I’ll get the padlocks.” Nathaniel said, going into the kitchen.  
I was surprised by the resourcefulness of it. I hadn’t thought of keeping anything around for this kind of emergency. Normally things just got killed. “Are they silver?” I asked.  
“High silver content.” Micah replied. “It won’t burn her as she has long sleeves but I’d appreciate it if one of you put them on her.”  
“I’ll do that too.” Nathaniel said coming back with a kitchen chair and padlocks.  
“It’ll burn you too.” I said and he shrugged. I had a ‘oh’ moment of realisation, remembering when I first met him he used to wear silver hair clips because he didn’t mind the burn. “Okay.” I said giving up.  
Half an hour later the living room was full of semi naked men and women who had shifted back and were borrowing blankets because we simply didn’t have enough clothes in their sizes. Azure had regained consciousness but we didn’t want to listen to her so she’d been dumped in the cellar. We could still just hear her on the edge of our hearing but it wasn’t the ranting deafening screams poor Micah had been subjected to up close. Jean Claude assured me Josh was safe and well and that Asher would keep him safe until we returned. Coffee was on the floor on a tray seeing as the table was firewood and had been thrown out the back door which was also firewood only with glass thrown in. Jason had been sweeping up when I went through and had already called a glazier. I sat on the sofa with Jean Claude on one side, Micah on the other and Nathaniel at my feet, coffee in hand. Ocean was seated in one of the armchairs with everyone else sitting on the floor.  
The story was a simple one. Azure had called two of them and Josh was already there. She had ordered them to gather as many as they could and meet at this address out of Josh’s ear shot. So as far as Josh knew, when he warned us of three, he thought he was right. I’d have to praise him later for the heads up, even if it was wrong. They got here, one of them picked the lock and she had Josh call me. The others arrived a while later. The plan was for them to lay low even after Azure gave the signal, knowing I’d kill her at the earliest opportunity.  
“So why did you jump me?” I looked at the second in command, the big guy who was called David.   
“I had to make Azure think we were still on side so she’d move away from the kid and give you a free shot at her.” He shrugged. “I tried not to hurt you.”  
“You threw me across the room.” I pointed out.  
“You shot me.” He replied.  
I thought for a moment. “Yeah, okay, so we’re even.”  
“That’s not even!” He laughed.  
“Neither of us are dead, that’s even in my book.”  
“I suppose it is.” He nodded as though it hadn’t occurred to him that way.  
“So what do we do now?” I asked. “I’m open to suggestions.”  
“Can’t you still just kill her for us?” One of the men asked. He was young, probably not as old as Nathaniel with short chestnut hair.  
“That’s murder.” I said, giving him raised eyebrows.  
“You are sweating legalities, ma petite?” Jean Claude asked.  
“I’m a marshal, I’m supposed to.” I shrugged.   
“So you won’t kill her for us?” Another man asked. I looked around at them all. Most of them were men; there were only two women; and most of them were young, certainly none over twenty two I didn’t think.   
“I can’t just do it in cold blood.”  
“So let her go and when she goes for you, kill her.” Another man said.  
I sighed. “You guys just want her dead, you don’t care how?” There were murmurs of yes and nods from round the room. “Alright.” I turned to Ocean. “You run the carnival, right?”  
He nodded. “I do.”  
“And I assume you would be the direct link to the council?”  
“If they need to contact us, it is I they come to.” He frowned at me suspiciously. “What are you thinking, Miss Blake?”  
“That she broke the council’s law. You don’t try and kill someone’s human servant.”  
“Bravo, ma petite.” Jean Claude said and I glanced at him. He was smiling as though I’d made him proud.  
Ocean looked at me with a strange look on his face. “You want me to approach the council?”  
“I want you to kill her.” I said simply.  
“But…”  
“But nothing. She broke the law; she needs to be punished to the full extent of it. You’re in charge of them; you have to deal with it.”  
He narrowed his eyes at me. “You raise a good point.”  
“You will find that ma petite’s points are always good and valid.” Jean Claude put his arm around me.  
I knew he’d argued with me about a lot of my ‘good and valid points’ in the past but we were showing a united front apparently. “If you don’t want to do it, don’t. We can contact the council and tell them you’re not doing your job.”   
He sighed. “I know from your reputation you do not joke, Miss Blake. If you insist on calling the councils laws into play I have no choice.”  
“You mean you’re going to kill her?” The kid with the chestnut hair asked turning to Ocean.  
“It’s our law, and Miss Blake’s prerogative.”  
“And I’m not doing your dirty work for you.” I folded my arms under my breasts.  
“I’m curious thought,” Micah asked, “what will you do without an alpha?”  
“We have other alphas.” Ocean said. “We all try and be one large family so that those who do not have alphas of their own kind do not need them, there is always someone to turn to.”  
“And without Azure you’ll all cope just fine?” Micah checked.  
“We will be fine.” Ocean nodded.  
“More than.” The chestnut haired boy said and there were murmurs of agreement from everyone.  
“So you can take her off our hands and as it were never darken my door again?” I said hopefully.  
“Yes.” Ocean nodded with a smile.  
“Your word you’ll deal with her?”   
“My word.” He nodded again.  
“Good.” I stood up. “Then take her the hell out of my house and everybody go home.” I stepped over Nathaniel, marched through the room and headed upstairs.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Smut. Just, smut.

I heard everyone leaving while I checked nothing in my room had been disturbed or taken. It hadn’t so I sat on the bed quietly holding Sigmund. I felt like I’d been used. The leopards had wanted free and didn’t mind putting me and mine in danger to get it. I understood what it was like for them to have a crap alpha, I really did, I had seen up close and personal what a crap alpha liked to do, but that didn’t seem like a reason to use me as their executioner. I mean, okay, I was an executioner but that was legal and she hadn’t broken any laws, not human laws anyway, but vampire laws she had; you don’t kill human servants, no matter how much they pissed off the council at previous times. I was glad I’d been able to hand her over to Ocean for retribution and hoped he carried it out but I still wasn’t happy that the rest of the leopards had been willing to let me kill her just so they could be rid of her. Used and abused. Kind of.  
The door opened slightly and Micah looked at me on the bed with a soft smile. “You’re not hiding, are you?”  
“I don’t hide.” I frowned putting Sigmund back on the nightstand. “I get mad and don’t want people to see it though.”  
“I knew you were mad.” He shut the door and came and sat beside me. “Which bit has got you the maddest?”  
“I think it’s because they were willing to use to me to save themselves, rather than asking me for help.”  
“Not because of how Azure was treating them?”  
“That made me mad too but I’m more annoyed at being used as an executioner. I feel like I’ve been dragged into a plot without my knowledge.”  
He brushed my hair back from my face with his knuckles. “I know you don’t like being used or being a bogeyman.”  
I looked at him for a moment. “I don’t like the thought that they were ruled by a bad alpha, let alone that she had a thing for teenage boys, I’d have helped if they’d asked me, but they didn’t.”  
“You handled it well though. Calling the council’s law into force was a great move.” He smiled.  
“You threatening to kill her was a great move too.” I smiled back.  
“Backfired though.”  
“Want to hear something funny?” I raised an eyebrow.  
“Sure.”  
“You threatening her like that gave me a bit of a buzz.”  
“A buzz?” He asked as his smile spread. “What kind of buzz?” I glanced down then up at him again through my lashes as heat came to my cheeks. “That kind of a buzz?” He said, surprised.  
“It wasn’t the thought of you killing her,” I said defensively as he leant closer, “it was just the practicality of it. I knew if you’d threatened it and it came down to it, you’d do it. You’d do what had to be done.”  
“Just like you would.” He was so close now he was all I could see, all I could smell.  
“Just like I would.” I whispered.  
He quickly took my face in his hands and kissed me, kissed me like he couldn’t breathe and I was his air line. I kissed him back with equal intensity and moved until I straddled him. Even through our clothes I could feel the thick, length of him straining and it made my heart race as I pressed myself against him. He growled into my mouth and moved his hands to my shirt buttons as I did the same to him. We parted and after putting up my Browning and sliding off my holster we removed our shirts. His eyes seemed to burn as he glanced over my naked skin, a stark pale contrast to the black lace push up. He ran his fingertips over my left breast and I opened the buttons of our jeans one after the other but couldn’t work his zipper, he was too swollen, which made things tighten at the thought.  
He ran his hands up my back and licked a wet line across my breasts then nibbled the flesh that mounded where the push up did its job. I tipped my head back and made a small wordless sound as his tongue traced the edges of the lace. Taking his hands to my thighs he kissed up to my throat as he stood and turned us, laying me on my back. He straightened and slowly, carefully eased his zipper down and removed his jeans. He hadn’t worn underwear today, I didn’t know why, maybe I’d ask him if I remembered later, but right now the sight of him free from the constraints of his clothes, completely naked before me, made my mouth dry and other places wet.  
He smiled at me and it was all too male, all too knowing. “I love it when you look at me like that.” He bent over me and removed my jeans and underwear and I writhed where his fingers touched me.  
Once my socks had gone I sat up, I had to touch him. I went to my knees and caressed him with both hands, leaning my body against him and nipping at his collarbone. He moaned and pressed himself against my hands as his own trailed from my shoulders down to the base of my back.  
“How long do you think we have?” He murmured as I flicked my tongue across his speeding pulse.  
“You really think they don’t know what we’re doing?”  
“I wasn’t sure how desperately you wanted to check on Josh.”  
I leant back but I didn’t release him. “He’s safe with Asher; Jean Claude said he’s okay. Let him sweat for a while. This,” I gave him a squeezing stroke that made his head rock back and his lips part, “is what I desperately want; you are what I desperately want.”  
He brought his head back down to look at me with his chartreuse eyes. One hand left my back and caressed my cheek softly, brushing it with his thumb. “That might be the biggest turn on of all.” He whispered and using his hand at my waist and his lycanthropic strength he lifted me back, off my knees and onto my back so he laid the length of me. In this position he easily filled the distance from my entrance to my belly button and a little further and that thought made me writhe again, which in turn made him moan and press into me further. The cycle went on for a few moments before he broke it with a shaky laugh slid to the side of me, trailing his hand from my cheek and down my body in a feather light line that felt like it burned, but not in a bad way. As his fingers slid inside me I groaned, raising my hips off the bed as he explored me, making more room for the moment when other, more intimate parts would take their place. His arm around my back pulled me closer as I moved my legs to allow him a better angle. There was no leeway to have both hands on him now so I moved one arm around his neck to play with his hair as I stroked the length of him. He kissed me and his tongue explored me as his fingers did, making me murmur into his mouth until I felt that tight warmth spreading for the first time and I spasmed under his onslaught. He finally drew back with a smug smile on his face, sliding his fingers back out of me, trailing my wetness over my clitoris until I cried out as another wave of orgasm blew through me with the force of a freight train.  
While I was still recovering he took my hands and put them above my head as he rolled himself on top. He pushed his way inside me and despite the preparation he was still so big that he had to fight to fit. Mini orgasms pulsed through me as his hands slid down my arms and behind me to release my bra, throwing it across the room then taking one of my breasts into his mouth, teasing it with his tongue and teeth until I cried out.  
We found a rhythm as he kissed his way up to the bend in my neck and nibbled at the flesh making me close me eyes and gasp. I brought my arms down and I threaded my hands into his hair as I wrapped my legs around him giving him a deeper angle which he took to it with an easy thrust that filled me up, reaching the end of me with that sharp pleasurable pain that he couldn’t fail to create no matter how gentle or rough we were being. He kissed and licked a wet line up my neck to my face where he looked down at me with those incredible eyes. Intimate barely covered the feel of him thrusting inside me as he looked into my eyes as though he could see deeper. He kissed me bruisingly but kept the eye contact as we fed at one another’s mouths which seemed to make it more than it was, maybe it was helped by the tightening I felt inside me starting again as though it had never stopped, whatever it was it was only moments before I fell into his eyes with a muffled cry and melted. The orgasm filled me with a tingling that seemed to spread through every cell in my body then expand until I wasn’t sure I’d ever feel the same again but still he plunged into me with ferocity and he stopped kissing me to concentrate on the strokes he made that were now becoming longer and harder and I knew he was going to lose control.  
He made that familiar groan of release and pushed himself inside to the hilt making me cry out and arch my back against him as another orgasm hit me. We shuddered together for a few moments then collapsed as one. I pushed his hair back from his face and kissed him softly between gasping breaths. He rested on his elbows and smiled down at me.   
“You know what? I love you.”   
“Good, I’d hate to think that was just an act.” I smiled back. “And I love you too.”  
He rested his head against mine for a moment as his breathing began to settle a little. “I could lay with you for the rest of my life and never want for anything.”  
“Not even food?” I raised my eyebrows.  
“No. Not even.”  
“Drink?”  
“No.” he smiled.  
“Bathroom breaks?”  
“No.” He laughed and it made me spasm again as he was still buried so deep inside me. I gasped and arched my back which made him flinch. “Don’t do that.” He gave me wide eyes and a smile.  
“So get out before you laugh again.” I smiled at not only the situation but memories it brought and he shifted and slid out of me, rolling onto his side and pulling me against him so we were looking at one another. “You know the rest of your life wouldn’t be very long if you didn’t eat, drink or take bathroom breaks. You’d either have some sort of internal explosion, starve to death or dehydrate.”   
He screwed up his face. “That doesn’t sound like much fun.”  
“Not really.”  
“You sure can ruin the romance of a moment.”  
“Yep.” I grinned.  
“Alright how about if I amend it to; I could go to sleep with you every night for the rest of my life?”  
Once upon a time I might have argued that the rest of his life was a long time and I’d have picked or freaked out about it. But not now, instead I snuggled against him and smiled. “I know what you mean.” Things worked, that was what mattered. I’d finally realised if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Josh still wants to know more than he should.

We were back at the circus within an hour. Jean Claude left us as soon as he arrived, I’d agreed to let him punish Valentina and as she was now back he was going to do his Master of the City thing which meant I could find Josh and Asher. They were in the living area talking quietly as we came through the door and stood to greet us. Josh smiled at me but it soon slipped as I frowned at him.  
“Didn’t Dad or Judith ever buy you a cross?” I said, folding my arms as I stopped a few feet from him.  
“What?” He asked, confused.  
“Never mind.” I shook my head. “I guess I can’t really be mad at you for circumstances.”  
“I’m really sorry for all the trouble I caused.” He looked down then up again.   
“Just learn from it.” I said, moving to the couch. “If you learn anything this weekend I hope it will be not to trust anyone. Watch out for number one.”  
“I’ll try.” He took his seat again. “You won’t tell Dad, will you?”  
“Tell him what? That I let you get abducted by a vampire and dumped with a little boy loving wereleopard? No, I think I’ll keep that one a secret.”  
“Thanks.” He looked back at his feet. “Can I ask you something?”  
“I guess.” I shrugged, dreading to think what he was going to say now.  
“Can I stay another couple of days?”  
I gave him wide eyes. “Don’t you think you’ve got in enough trouble in one day?”  
He shrugged. “I feel like I’ve only just started to get a glimpse at things. And I like spending time with you.”  
I sighed. “Josh…”  
“You don’t have to say yes now, just think about it. I’ll try to be good and not get in any more trouble.”  
“Fine, I’ll think about it.”  
“Do I still get to see someone shift tonight?” He asked hopefully.  
I looked at Micah. “Does he?”  
He nodded. “I’ll take him down and shift for him.”  
“I’ll shift for him too.” Jason offered. “No point in making him think everyone’s as perfect at it as Micah is.”  
Micah laughed. “Thank you.”  
“You’re welcome but if I’m going to make you look good you owe me a beer.”  
“I’ll go too.” Nathaniel said, looking at me. “We can give him his monies worth.”  
“Thanks, guys.” I smiled.  
“Yeah, thanks.” Josh said.  
“Don’t say thanks until you’ve been up close to it.” I said, giving him a look. “We’ll stay here for the night.”  
“We will?” Josh said in a surprised tone.  
“We will. Nathaniel will be in no state to travel home after shifting back and we have plenty of room here for everyone and its safe.” I’d revoked Ocean’s invitation as he left the house, just in case, so he couldn’t walk in if he felt like it, but it wasn’t overly safe with a broken door so here worked for me. “When do you guys want to go get sticky?”  
They shared a look. “Now?” Micah suggested. They both nodded in agreement.  
“Alright.” I said standing. “Asher, can we get a bedroom for Josh organised?”  
“If you like he can stay in mine.” Jason suggested. Josh gave him a look that was very teenage heterosexual. Jason laughed. “Don’t worry, you’re not my type. And I’ll sleep somewhere else.” He glanced at me.  
I nodded that he could stop with us. “Thanks, I think Josh will appreciate the privacy.” I also didn’t know if he’d appreciate sharing a room with Jason once he’d seen him shift. It could freak him out in a big way. “So if that’s organised, shall we?”  
“You’re coming too?” Jason asked in surprise.  
“Sure.” I shrugged. “Why wouldn’t I?”  
“I just thought…” he shook his head with a smile. “Never mind.” He got up as the others did and we headed for the door.  
“No, what is it?” I insisted.  
“I thought maybe you’d want to get to bed, recoup some of that energy you used up.” He gave me a wicked grin.  
“Energy? What did I miss?” Josh asked. I guess he thought he’d missed something with Azure.  
“Nothing.” I shook my head.  
“Did you do something draining?” Josh persisted.  
“Nothing you want to know about.”  
“You really don’t want details.” Micah shook his head.  
“Good luck, ma chere.” Asher called as we entered the corridor leading us deeper under the circus.  
“But if you did something…”  
“No.”   
Nathaniel patted Josh on the back. “Josh, you don’t want details.”  
“I do.” He looked at him imploringly. “If Anita did something to save me that made her use up a lot of energy I want to know!”  
“It wasn’t to save you!” I said, frustrated.  
“Let me try.” Jason said. “I’ll be gentle.” He promised me. “Let’s put it this way, Josh, it wasn’t to save you, and it wasn’t something it was someone.” Wow, that was pretty diplomatic for flirty Jason. A moment of confusion crossed Josh’s face as he tried to work it out then realisation dawned and his mouth formed an ‘o’ as he blushed.  
Suddenly I felt cruel, or teasing at least. “But if you’re really insisting,” I shrugged, “first Micah and I…”  
“No!” He said, too fast. “No, its okay, I didn’t mean to be nosey.”  
Micah laughed and held out a hand to me which I took. “Probably for the best if you don’t know anyway.” Jason said as Micah kissed my knuckles. “Micah’s a force to be reckoned with in most areas of his life. Alpha all the way, right?”  
It was my turn to blush, the heat racing to my face at the look Jason gave me. Even though it was Micah we were talking about there was a lot of heat in that one look. He laughed. “I love it when I make you blush.”  
“Only because you know I hate it!” I argued.  
“Yeah.” He shrugged. “A guy has to make his mark where he can.”  
“You can hold your own, Jason, you know that.” I said, even though he’d embarrassed me I wanted to make sure he wasn’t jealous of Micah. Each of the men in my bed was different and I liked that.  
“Much better if you hold it though.” He winked.  
“Too much information!” Josh said dramatically.  
We all laughed. “Sorry.” Jason and I said.  
We reached the area where Jean Claude kept cattle for weres who needed to feed. There were communal showers here too for after the shift back and shelves of towels, blankets and pillows should they want to stay here to rest after the shift back. Anyone not alpha enough fell into a deep sleep straight after changing back to human form and the blankets meant that the alphas could make them comfortable before going on their way. If I’d thought about it I’d have asked Asher and Jean Claude to come down in a while and help us take the guys to bed, Micah would be tired after the shift and it didn’t seem fair to ask him to carry one of either Nathaniel or Jason back to Jean Claude’s room and as much as my strength was greater than a normal human I wasn’t sure I could carry one of them that far either.  
“Thinking hard.” Nathaniel said as he unbuttoned his shirt.  
“Just trying to work out how you guys are going to get back to Jean Claude’s room, if you shift back here.”  
“It’ll work out.” He shrugged.  
“There are plenty of people who you can get to take us back if you need to.” Jason said pulling his t-shirt over his head in a long accentuated movement.  
“You have a lovely body, Jason, stop showing it off, I’m all screwed out for today.” I smiled slightly.  
“I don’t know what you mean.” He said, dropping the t-shirt and flexing like a body builder. We all laughed at the obvious joke.   
“Anita’s right though.” Micah said. “We have to get there some how.”  
“Anita will work it out.” Nathaniel insisted as he slipped his shoes off.  
I smiled at him. He had such faith in me from the simplest to most difficult of tasks. “I’ll work it out. You guys just get furry.”  
There was bench seating in here and I took Josh over to one while the guys finished getting undressed and put their clothes in the lockers that lined one wall.  
Josh whispered something as the boys removed the last of their clothing but I didn’t really hear him.  
“Hmm?” I blinked and looked at him.   
“I said do they have to get naked? And do you have to so blatantly enjoy it?”  
“In reverse order, how can I not? And yes, if you have the choice getting naked works best. If you shift in your clothes you ruin them. Most of the weres wear old clothes around the full moon just in case they get caught out, that way it’s no big deal if they get wrecked.”  
“Okay.”  
We watched as they all headed towards the showers. They’d shift there so it was easily cleaned up and didn’t scare the cattle, which comprised of a sheep, two goats and a cow. I knew although there were more than enough for each of them they’d all die, if not at the boys hand then from fright of seeing their companions killed. It was like some strange petting zoo. Poor bastards had no idea as to what was coming. The guys seemed to be having some discussion which ended in Micah turning round and calling; “Anita, do you have any preference?”  
“How do you mean?” I frowned, getting up and leaving Josh to go to him.  
“Do you want us all half, or totally animal? A couple of us do one and the other do the other?”  
I frowned, thinking. “Which is least tiring for you?” I asked Micah. “Half man, right?”  
He nodded. “And I won’t have to feed, unless you want me to.”  
I looked back at Josh who was watching us with a scared yet eager curiosity. “I want him shaken, but it’d be good if you could still answer his questions.”  
“I’ll move a couple of the animals out.” Jason said going past us. “If we don’t have to kill them all we shouldn’t.”  
“Throw a towel on,” I called after him, “you don’t want anything bitten.” He pulled an ‘ouch’ face at me and grabbed a towel on the way past.  
“Alright so I’ll go half man, Nathaniel, you and Jason go full animal?” Micah asked.  
“Whatever you say.” Nathaniel said.  
“It’s not what I say, it’s what you want.” Micah reminded him with a smile.  
“I’d rather feed in full animal form.” Nathaniel gave me a look and I nodded. I think understood why.  
“That’s fine.” Micah said. “He can have a good experience of both then.”  
“I still can’t quite believe after all the trouble today he’s still considering it.” I shook my head, hugging myself with my arms.  
“I guess while Azure might have scared him he knew you’d still be there for him.” Micah pulled me against his side in a half hug.  
“He actually asked me that.” I said, thinking back to my kitchen. “Just before he head butted Azure in the nose, he asked if he could still be in our Pard if Azure turned him. He wanted to check he could still be with us if she scratched him up.”  
“Did she?” Micah asked.  
I frowned at him. “Not that I know of. I mean he cried out but I didn’t think to ask if he was hurt.” My eyes went wide. “You don’t think she might have cut him in the chaos?”  
“I don’t know.” Micah shrugged. “But one of Azure’s hands wasn’t human when I hit her.”  
I sighed. “I’ll ask him. Call me when you’re ready.”  
“Okay.” Micah kissed my cheek.  
“Have fun.” Nathaniel wrinkled his nose and kissed me too.  
“Thanks.” I said. I wasn’t sure I was looking forward to it; in fact I knew I wasn’t. Josh however was looking forward to it and I was hoping to scare him with the show enough that it would change his mind, but if he had already been scratched it might be a moot point. Time to find out.  
I went back to Josh and sat down. “What was that about? Jason’s taken the cow and sheep out.”  
I nodded. “Only two of them will need to feed, no point in having to kill all the animals. It’s a waste.”  
“That makes sense, I guess.”  
“Josh, earlier when we were at my place,”  
“The first time or when I called you into a trap?” He said, looking embarrassed.  
“Not your fault. But I did want to say well done on distracting Azure.”  
“I couldn’t let her keep the upper hand.” He shrugged. “And I knew you wouldn’t be alone, not really.”  
“All the same, after you hit her and Micah jumped in, I remember you shouting. What happened?”  
“It was a total surprise, Micah jumping on us. I landed hard on my arm and it hurt. Think I cut my head when I fell over too.” He reached up and touched the back of his head subconsciously.  
I frowned. “Can I see?”   
“Sure.” He turned around on the bench and touched it again showing me where it was. “Asher wiped it with a wet cloth when we got back so my hair wasn’t matted. It was only a little bit of blood he said.”  
I parted his cropped hair and saw a tiny hairline cut. It was only a little moist with blood and it was starting to scab over nicely but we still didn’t know how he’d got it. “Yeah it’s fine, healing nicely. I just wonder how you got it.”  
“I don’t know.” He shrugged. “Asher just pointed it out when we got back here. It didn’t hurt until he mentioned it.”  
“Uh huh.” I smoothed his hair and glanced across at Micah who was watching me. I nodded my head slightly as Josh turned around. Micah offered me a small, sympathetic smile. Question was did I suggest to Josh that he might have been infected already? I sighed. Of course I did. If he was he had to know in advance. I guess next full moon he’d be having a sleepover at my place. “Josh, it's possible Azure could have done that.”  
“What, that little cut?” He frowned.  
“Even the smallest of cuts can pass on lycanthropy.”  
He looked at me for a moment not understanding then his eyes went wide. “You mean I might have it already?”  
“Maybe.” I shrugged. “She might have infected you when Micah jumped you both. He said one of her hands was a claw so she might have nicked you with it.”  
He visibly swallowed. “How long, until I know for definite?”  
“The next full moon. I think we’d better make sure you come to our place for a sleepover.” He nodded and the fear emanating from him was tangible; I guess thinking about it was one thing, it having happened was another. “Don’t worry.” I put a reassuring hand on his shoulder and smiled. “If you are, we’ll deal with it. It’ll be okay.”  
“What will Mom say?” He said, his voice small.  
“It doesn’t matter what she says, you’re still the same man you were yesterday, the same man you will be tomorrow.”  
“Man, huh?” He smiled sadly.  
“Yeah, no matter how much we might baby you, you’re a man. You showed bravery tonight when men twice your age would have pee’d their pants. You should be proud of yourself.”  
“Thanks. That means a lot coming from you.” He looked down. “So if I might be going furry anyway do I still get to see the show?”  
“Yeah. No point in hiding the gory details from you. Besides, cat lycanthropy is hard to catch, even if she scratched you there’s no guarantee you will shift.”  
“What are the odds I am though?”  
“I don’t deal with statistics, that’s Micah’s job.” I smiled. “Ask him later.”  
“Alright.” He nodded.  
“Let’s get this party started!” Jason said with a clap, coming back from the stables where he’d led the cow and sheep. We all looked at him. “What?” He said, puzzled.  
“Nothing. Go get in the shower.” I said.  
“Why exactly are they in the shower?” Josh asked as I stood up.  
“So they don’t get goop everywhere. You coming?” I looked down at him.  
He swallowed visibly then set his jaw. “Of course.” He stood beside me and we walked over to the edge of the showers.  
“In your own time, guys.” I smiled at them.  
“See you on the other side.” Jason grinned. Nathaniel blew me a kiss and Micah gave me a serious look.  
“If you need anything…”  
“Just do it.” I said, knowing he meant if I felt my own beast rise I shouldn’t leave it to Josh, I should call for them, like they wouldn’t notice.  
Micah shifted first, that easy, flawless shift where his skin seemed to flow from him like water to be replaced by thick black fur, his limbs twisting and changing to that of a half leopard half man and he gained several inches in height and mass. He tilted his head back and drew a deep breath through his teeth as the fur flooded up his neck encompassing his head and face until a muzzle replaced his delicate features. Josh shifted slightly while it happened and I noticed a faint hum of some power emanating from him and he shivered. To me it was warm, like a stroke of velvet inside me with a scent of home. I knew Micah had gone first because it would help Nathaniel trigger his change which started just a moment later but unlike Micah’s smooth transition Nathaniel gasped and arched his back as he shed his skin in a rush of clear goop. He fell to the floor writhing as black fur appeared where his skin sloughed off him and a cry became a growling howl as his throat changed from that of a man to an animal. Jason chose that moment to start his change as well, his hands lengthening to claws as the skin on his back split to reveal his fur. He tore at his skin with his newly formed claws and I smelt musty leaves and outdoors as he did so.   
Josh flinched as their bodies made the cracking and popping noises of a body changing shape and reforming but he stood his ground, even if he was a little pale. For the end of the change I watched his expression, watched his eyes go wide and the blood drain from his face. He was shaking slightly by the time Jason and Nathaniel were up on four paws. Micah leant slightly against the wall with one hand as he recovered then straightened. I looked up at him and he looked back with the bright eyes I’d come to love. I wasn’t sure what to say, and I guess he wasn’t either so he just smiled, showing white fangs against pink gums and black lips. Josh gasped and I put my hand on his arm as Jason and Nathaniel padded out of the shower. Nathaniel reached me first and rubbed around my legs. The sheer strength of him in this form would have been enough to floor me, should he have leant too hard, but he just rubbed his body against me softly, getting close.  
“Can I touch him?” Josh murmured and I turned to look at him.  
“Ask him.” I said.  
“Seriously?” Josh looked at me as though I was joking.  
“Seriously.”  
He looked uncomfortable as Nathaniel turned and sat beside me, looking at Josh with his head on one side. “Can I touch you?” Nathaniel bobbed his head once and got up again, walking to Josh. Josh lowered his hand tentatively and touched Nathaniel’s head as though he wasn’t sure he wanted to but then, realising Nathaniel wasn’t going to turn and bite him he got more confident, stroking his head gently. “He’s so soft.”  
“Yeah.” I nodded as Jason pawed my leg. “Oh you jealous wolf.” I said with a smile and crouched, running my hands through Jason’s thick fur. He licked my lips with one quick dart of his tongue and his eyes sparkled. “Once a flirt.” I said and if I hadn’t known better I’d have said he was laughing, as a soft rumble ran through him.  
“He thinks you’re funny.” Josh said with a grin.  
“That wasn’t so bad, huh?” I looked up at him.  
“It was amazing. A bit shivery but, wow.” He smiled.  
“Okay, time to get gory.” I stood and took Josh’s arm, leading him back to the bench beside the cattle’s enclosure. I wanted to get him there before the boys did, so he could see the feeding from the start, including the fear of the animals and their cries as they died. There was nothing pretty about being a were and I wanted him to know that.  
We started back to the benches and Micah joined us.   
“Do you mind if I shift back?” He asked. “I should be able to take one of the guys back to the bedroom if I do it now.”  
“Good thinking, catman.” I smiled.  
“Funny.” He said and went back to the showers.  
I led Josh to the benches again and we sat, looking at the goats as they grazed on some hay or maybe it was straw, what did I look like? Old Macdonald? “It’s not going to be pretty.” I warned him.  
“It’s okay; I wanted to know the truth.” He smiled at me slightly but he was definitely nervous.  
“You might be regretting that.” I said as I watched Jason run up and launch himself into the enclosure. The goats panicked and ran in different directions, bleating pitifully. “The fear excites them.” I explained as Nathaniel stalked past us, so close I could have touched him but I knew better than to do that. He was watching the goats intently and I didn’t want to distract him. Wolves were more direct than leopards; the leopards would stalk, sneak up and pounce whereas half the fun for Jason was the chase. Nathaniel leapt up on one of the wooden posts of the enclosure and watched, watched in complete stillness as Jason sent the goats scattering again. He was playing with them. One of the goats ran past Nathaniel on his post and got less than three feet before he pounced, hitting it in the flank and bringing it down, his teeth in its throat. It bleated desperately but soon silenced as Nathaniel sank his teeth into it, silencing it forever.  
A high cry from the other end drew our attention as Jason downed the other goat but unlike Nathaniel he didn’t silence it. He was giving us the vocal performance whereas Nathaniel was going for the visual. Nathaniel dragged the corpse closer to the fence so we had a better view and I could smell the metallic tang of blood on the air. He stalked around the body, allowing us a view of the torn throat and settled behind it to eat so we could see exactly what he was doing, bite by bite.  
Josh made a small noise and I glanced at him. The colour that had returned when he got over the initial shock of the shifting had gone again and he was grey. He looked worse than he had this morning when he was hung over. “You okay?” I asked him.  
He shook his head. “I’m not sure.” At that moment an ear piercing death cry went up from Jason’s goat and that was all it took. Josh got up and bolted for the showers where Micah, now back in human form, was rinsing himself and the showers of clear gunk.  
“I think he’s going to puke.” I called giving Micah warning as I followed. He shut off the showers so Josh didn’t get soaked as he dropped to his knees and started retching. Micah crouched beside him and rubbed his back, offering comforting words. He looked up at me and smiled sympathetically. I hoped Josh’s ego wasn’t going to be hurt by him throwing up in front of us and this being the cause but it was better he knew the truth than have it hidden.  
After several minutes Josh stopped heaving and sat back and I threw Micah a towel. “Better?” I asked him.  
“Yeah.” He ran his hands through his hair. “Sorry.”  
“Don’t be.” I shook my head. “At least you made the showers.”   
“All I seem to be doing this weekend is throwing up.” He sighed.  
“There’s no shame in it, Josh.” Micah said, the towel now securely in place around his waist. “We’ve all been new to it and we’ve all spent our fair share of time with our heads in makeshift toilets. It’ll pass.”  
“Really?” He looked at Micah hopefully.  
“Really.” Micah smiled.  
“I threw up at my first crime scene.” I said and they both looked up at me in surprise.  
“And you’re admitting that?” Micah asked.  
I shrugged. “Hey, I was a rookie once too. At least you didn’t do it in front of a whole squad of cops.”  
Josh smiled. “Now that sounds embarrassing.”  
“At least you’re among friends.” Micah said offering him a hand up.  
Josh took it and got to his feet. “Yeah. Thanks.”  
“No big deal. Do you want to go now?” Micah asked.  
Josh looked across to where Nathaniel and Jason were eating and took a deep breath. “No, I want to see this through. I want to see them change back too.”  
I smiled and clapped him on the back. “Big brave boy.”  
“I’ll go see who I can get to help us back.” Micah said going for his clothes.  
“Thank you.” I smiled at him.  
“Anytime for that smile.”  
We sat back down on the benches and Nathaniel raised his head from the remains of the goat. He tilted his head to one side as if asking if everything was okay. “It's fine, Nathaniel, finish up.” I said and he went back to his goat.  
“Can I ask you a personal question?” Josh said although it sounded reluctant, as though he were embarrassed.  
“Another one?” I looked at him.  
“Sorry. I don’t have to ask it.” He shrugged.  
I sighed and looked back at Nathaniel. “No, ask it. If I don’t like it I just won’t answer.”  
“It’s not really personal I guess, it’s kind of, well,”  
“Spit it out, Josh.”  
“I didn’t know what the compatibility was like with a human and like what Micah just was.”  
“You mean sexually?” I glanced at him.  
“Yeah.” He said reluctantly.  
“Half man form and human is compatible, but it’s dangerous for the human.”  
“Because of size or the risk of passing it on?”  
“A lot of reasons, them included. If you get pregnant when they’re in part form the baby can have Mowgli syndrome. That’s not good.” I kept my eyes away from him, I wasn’t going to get embarrassed about this or avoid it but not looking at him helped. “Some weres, after they haven’t long been infected or its close to the full moon, have been known to get carried away during sex with human partners and either damage them permanently or kill them. The human body can’t take as much damage as a were can and what a human might consider hard and fast is mild to a were. Were hard and fast can be fatal.”  
He was quiet for a moment as though considering it and my eyes fell on Nathaniel who had his chin rested on the remains of the goat and was watching me intently. I knew he could hear what we were talking about and we both knew that he was the only person I’d ever been with in half man form. It wasn’t really a dirty little secret, it was something we’d shared, enjoyed, but hadn’t repeated since. It just hadn’t come up again, no pun intended.   
Finally Josh hesitantly broke the silence. “So you, haven’t, then?” I didn’t answer him. I didn’t need to. I wasn’t expecting him to ask me something so direct and before I could stop it my eyes went wide and my cheeks scalded. “You have!” He said in surprise. Nathaniel shifted too, moving around and it caught Josh’s eye. “With Nathaniel?” He asked.  
I sighed heavily. “We have, just once.”  
“Did he, I mean did it hurt?”  
I turned to him slowly. “You really want me to tell you about my sex life?”  
He flushed, bringing a little colour back to his cheeks. “I was just curious. Maybe I don’t want to know.”  
“I’ll give you one snippet and it shouldn’t embarrass you too much. If it’s my health you’re worried about, don’t, I can take a lot more damage than your average human. If it’s for educational purposes, you want to know so you don’t damage a partner, I recommend you don’t do it like that with a regular human.”  
“Okay.” He said simply and we fell into a silence that lasted until Nathaniel and then Jason finished eating and came and sat by us. Josh tensed at first then relaxed as Jason lay at our feet and Nathaniel rested his head on my lap after making sure his face was clean. I stroked his head absently and he let out a contended sigh.  
“Do you guys want to shift back now and I’ll get the showers running?” I asked.  
Jason got up and stretched his whole body as Nathaniel licked my hand gently before trotting towards the showers. “Okay, that’s a yes.” I got up and followed them.  
“What now?” Josh asked following us.  
“Now they shift back and you get to see just how wasted they are.” We reached the showers and I stepped in so I stood against the wall. I turned on the furthest at arms length then moved back to turn on the second and third, keeping mostly dry apart from the odd splash. “Enjoy boys.” I said and stepped out of their way.  
They trotted into the running water and began their change back to human. I went and got towels for them as Josh watched, the sounds of sliding bones and popping joints reaching my ears as I picked up two large towels and two smaller ones. By the time I turned back they were human again and completely dead to the world. The shower finished rinsing them clean and I went back along the wall, turning them off and trying to stay dry. I got Josh to hold three of the towels while I dried off what I could of Jason. He was laying on his front with one arm under his head and I towelled down his back and legs then gave his hair a quick rub and wiped some droplets from his face, noting the satisfied smile he wore. I threw the damp towel over his lower body and moved on to Nathaniel. With him I wanted to take more time, not only because he had such long hair, but because he was mine in a way Jason was not. Nathaniel was curled on his side with his hair behind him in a damp mass. It could do with brushing and braiding so it didn’t wreck Jean Claude’s silk sheets but I wasn’t sure I could do it at this angle. I took the first of the small towels and wrapped it around his hair covering as much as I could and then did the same with the other. Finally I took the large towel from Josh and rubbed the drips off, drying him carefully then draping him with the towel as I had Jason.  
There was a selection of brushes and combs on the shelves and I got a wide toothed comb and tried combing through Nathaniel's hair but there was so much it was damn near impossible. I threw the comb down and instead tried to separate the hair enough for a rough braid.  
“You want me to help?” Josh said finally after watching me try for several moments.  
“No, I’ll get there; I’m just not used to braiding.”   
By the time Micah got back with Asher I had managed a loose braid and even found a tie to keep it in. Micah took Nathaniel and Asher lifted Jason, keeping them both covered in towels which I knew was for Josh’s sake and I appreciated it. I took Josh to Jason’s room and found someone had supplied a new toothbrush and a selection of shampoos and soaps, deodorants and toothpastes, fresh towels, clean sheets and a selection of clothes which he could also sleep in if he chose. I suspected the someone was Jean Claude, it was his place after all, and he was always the perfect host. I got Josh settled and gave him Nathaniel's cell, telling him to call either me or Micah if he needed anything. I hugged him goodnight and went back to Jean Claude’s room.  
Nathaniel was asleep on his side with Jason beside him. The covers hit them both at the waist and they couldn’t have looked more different. Nathaniel looked all innocence and comfort. His dark lashes rested softly on his cheeks and he had a serene look on his face. His hand rested beside his face on the red sheets and he was curled in the foetal position. In comparison Jason had one hand under his head and the other was on his stomach where the soft hairs began to trail downwards and disappeared into the sheet. He looked like he was posed for a photo shoot for some calendar, he just had to open those fresh blue eyes and grin.  
Micah came out of the bathroom, naked again now, and he smiled at me. “Haven’t you collapsed yet?” He whispered.  
“Not yet.” I smiled back. In truth I didn’t feel as tired as I should have. Adrenaline had kept me on the go for most of tonight and although it had faded slightly I still wasn’t quite at the stage where I was fighting to keep my eyes open. With these three awaiting me in bed though it might not be long.  
“Josh settled okay?”  
“Fine.” I went towards the bathroom but before I reached the door he touched my arm, halting me.  
“You were really quiet when we got back. Did something happen?”  
“Josh asked another embarrassing question.” I said, shaking my head. “I think he was a little shocked.”  
“What sort of question?”  
“Sex related. Sex in half man form related.”  
“Ah.” He nodded. “How did he take it?”  
“Better than I thought. I could have done without it though.”  
“No one likes to discuss their sex life with their little brother.” He smiled at me. “Let alone one as exotic as yours.”  
“Ours.” I said taking his hand. “His window is getting bigger.”  
“Window?” He frowned.  
“Into my life.”  
He nodded again as understanding crossed his face. “He’s got a lot of guts for his age. Stupid, but still gutsy.”  
I laughed slightly. “Yeah, definitely stupid. I think that’s a Blake failing.”  
“I’d never say you were stupid.” He pulled me to him and wrapped his arms around me. “You’re brave and impulsive, incredibly beautiful and intelligent, but not stupid.”  
“You always know what to say.”  
“Nimir Raj.” He said simply as an answer and I laughed and kissed him briefly.  
“One day that answer won’t be enough.” I smiled.  
“How about because I love you and I want you to be happy?”  
“Nimir Raj is less wordy.”  
“And makes you blush less.” He grinned.  
Twenty minutes later I finally climbed into bed. Snuggled down between Nathaniel and Micah I was warm, cosy and, as I predicted, it wasn’t long before I fell into a well deserved sleep.


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Azure is not done causing trouble.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little late this morning, so apologies, but I slept late, having had a bad night of painsomnia!

I hadn’t been asleep long, maybe half an hour, when I heard the door click open and I stirred.  
“Ma petite?”   
“I’m awake.” I murmured, my voice thick with sleep.  
“I bring bad news, I am afraid.”  
I sighed and sat up, climbing over Micah who stirred. “What’s happening?”  
“No clue.” I grabbed my robe and threw it on, heading to where Jean Claude stood silhouetted in the doorway. “What now?”   
“Ocean contacted the council with regard to Azure’s challenge on you.”  
“And?” I tied the sash on my robe.  
“And they wish for you to fight her.”  
“They want me to what?” I said, not sure I’d heard right.  
“They want you to fight her, at the finale in two night’s time.”  
Micah came up to us with a confused expression on his face. “The council said that?”  
“They seriously want me to try and kill a wereleopard? It’s too much to hope they’ll let me have weapons, I assume?” I was fully awake now and astounded.  
“Terms have yet to be set. Tomorrow night I will begin negotiations.”   
I sighed. “Well that’s kind of shit.”  
“Eloquent, ma petite, but accurate.” He put an arm around me and pulled me close, kissing my forehead.  
“What can we do?” Micah asked.  
“First, you must rest, all of you. We will have a fraught night tomorrow, dealing with the council.”  
“Josh wanted to stay another couple of days.” I said absently. “I have to get him home before then.”  
“It will be dealt with, ma petite. For now sleep, I will do what I can to aid you with peaceful dreams.”  
“Thanks.” Micah held out his hand to me and I took it, letting him lead me back to bed.  
“Sleep well, ma petite, mon chat.”  
I smiled at him although it was sad. He closed the door and I sighed. Micah moved in behind me and put his hands on my shoulders, pulling me back against him. “How can I beat her, Micah? If I can’t have any weapons what will I do?”  
“You’ll beat her.” He said, nuzzling my ear. “There are lots of things you can do.”  
“Like?” I prompted.  
“We don’t know the terms yet.”   
“The council want us dead, they want the triumvirate ended.”  
“Jean Claude will argue the terms so they’re fair, so you have a chance.” He guided me back towards the bed by pressing his body against mine.  
“I wonder if there’s anything in the rules that says I can’t get a warrant for her and kill her before then?”  
He chuckled softly. “What do you have on her that you could do that?”  
“Abduction of a minor, attempt to infect a minor.”  
“Not punishable by death though.” His arms untied the belt of my robe.  
“No, but I could get her arrested.”  
“All that would do is delay it, it’s not like you to put things off.” He slid the robe off my shoulders to pool at our feet.  
“No, I guess not.” I leant back against him.  
“Let’s sleep, tomorrow once we’re all back up to full strength we can worry in earnest.” He pulled me to the bed, climbing on and pulling me behind him.   
“Josh might already have been infected.” I said as I climbed on.  
“I know.” He smiled sadly. “And if he has we’ll deal with that too.”  
“This could be one of those things parents don’t forgive you for, you know? Turning a sibling into a wereleopard.”  
“Your dad was willing to accept you might be one.” We shifted around so I was back in between him and Nathaniel.  
“Yeah but that was before I gave him a heart attack.” I reminded him.  
“Which he doesn’t blame you for.”  
“Judith does though.” I raised my eyebrows as a thought hit me. “Maybe she won’t speak to me again.”  
“Wishful thinking.” He laughed then kissed me and made me lie down. “Now get some sleep.”  
“I’ll try.” I sighed. In truth I didn’t think I would, there was more going around in my head now than there was when I laid down to sleep earlier. I lay there for some time thinking about the challenge by Azure and Josh maybe turning furry.  
“Will you stop thinking so hard?” Micah whispered harshly into my face and I opened my eyes to see his greener than green eyes looking at me.  
“I can’t help it.” I whispered back.  
“Try. And. Sleep.” He said firmly. “You can worry when you’re rested.”  
I sighed. “Yeah, I know.”  
Nathaniel shifted behind me and snuggled close, throwing his arm around us both. I knew it would be a while before he woke up, several hours at least, so I was surprised when he muttered; “Will you two shush?”  
“Sorry.” I murmured raising my eyebrows at Micah who stifled a laugh. The most submissive among us was verbalising us for disturbing his sleep. I guess he had a point. I sighed and Micah kissed my forehead. “Go to sleep before he wakes up and bitchslaps us properly.”  
I raised an eyebrow. Would Nathaniel berate us if we disturbed his sleep? Maybe. Would I mind? Actually, no. Not at all.


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Josh doesn't want to abandon ship.

Breakfast had been served, Josh had slept well and recovered from events over the last two days. We ate well enough, considering the take out croissants and cold cuts were getting a little repetitive, but the other option was Macdonalds and from experience I knew that didn’t fill me for long. We sat around in Jean Claude’s living room, all showered and dressed and now, stressed. Jean Claude wasn’t up yet so negotiations couldn’t begin but I could worry and speculate which is what I chose to do.  
“Our first job has to be to take you home.” I said to Josh.  
“I don’t want to go home.” He argued. “I got you into this mess; I want to see it through with you.”  
I shook my head. “I don’t want you there, Josh. If I get killed it’s not something you want either in your memory or on your conscience. You’re going home.”  
“No, I’m not.” He crossed his arms. “And you can’t make me.”  
We’d been arguing about his going home since we got up. I thought he should, Micah agreed he should, Nathaniel thought he should because I did, but Josh wanted to see it through and Jason agreed with him. He said Josh was old enough to make the decision himself. I disagreed and so would Dad and Judith. Damn this Blake stubborn streak.  
“I can make you, I’d rather not have to make you, but I can.” I assured him.  
“Going to pull the gun on me?” He smiled slightly.  
“Not to shoot you, no, but I could smack you over the head with it and take you home unconscious.” His eyes went wide as though he hadn’t thought of that. He knew I wouldn’t shoot him but knock him out? I guess he wasn’t sure.  
“Dad and Mom wouldn’t like you taking me home unconscious.”  
“They’d like it even less if Micah took you home a day later to tell them I was dead and you’d witnessed it.” We glared at each other, neither one wanting to give.   
Micah, ever the peacemaker, gave it another try. “Josh, you may or may not be infected with leopard lycanthropy but that doesn’t mean you should get too involved with our society just yet. You’re still only young and there are certain things no one should see, including seeing a member of your family killed in a were attack.”  
I looked at Micah and knew he was referring to his own experience. “Micah’s right, Josh.” I said quietly. “No one should have to see that.” Micah and I shared a look, knowing we were thinking the same thing.  
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean…” Josh started but Micah interrupted him.  
“It’s alright.” He sighed. “But it’s not a memory you want.”  
“I really want to help.” Josh said. “That’s all.”  
I went and rested my hand on his shoulder. “You can help by being safe. If she kills me and takes over Blooddrinkers I hope Micah will avenge me, but in the meantime she might make another play for you. You need to be away and safe, just in case.”  
“You aren’t going to die.” Micah said, coming up to me and handing me another coffee. “But if something should happen I’d challenge her, kill her and take over Blooddrinkers myself.” He looked at Nathaniel who was watching us quietly. I knew he was worried that I was being a bit of a defeatist but I thought I was being realistic and practical.  
“I know you’d take care of them for me.” I smiled.   
“But you’d still be dead.” Nathaniel said quietly, joining the conversation for the first time.  
“As long as the council aren’t too strict on their terms I should be able to take her. I don’t want to fight her and I don’t want to die but I don’t have a choice in the first one and I’m hoping I can overcome the second but if I don’t I want my bases covered. I want to know you’ll all be okay.”  
“How could we be okay?” Nathaniel stood. “You won’t be here.”  
“I’ve beaten scarier than her.” I said, hoping to take the hurt and worry out of his eyes.  
“But not in hand to hand.” He argued.  
“Jean Claude will make sure the council are as fair as they can be.” I went to him and rested my hand on his arm.  
“But they want you dead too.” His voice returned to quiet tones.  
I shrugged. “Sometimes.”  
“I don’t want to lose you.” He murmured and I wrapped my arms around him, holding him close and resting my head on his chest. Micah came and pressed himself against my back, his arms reaching around to comfort Nathaniel.  
“If I can help it, you won’t.” I said quietly.  
“And we all know ma petite tries to never break a promise.” Jean Claude’s voice reached us from the doorway and I turned my head to see him standing in the doorway wearing leather pants and a white floaty shirt that was completely open. He came towards us confidently and rested a hand on Micah and Nathaniel's shoulders so it was almost a hug encompassing all four of us. “I will negotiate terms for you, ma petite, and I will ensure it is a fair fight. And remember if it comes down to a preternatural battle you outclass her on many levels. Even if it comes down to a physical fight I suspect you could best her, unless she cheats. You can call upon both triumvirates for strength. Do not forget your many ties to us and that we will willingly give our energy to help you.”  
“I know.” I nodded, my cheek rubbing up against Nathaniel’s shirt. “I just don’t want to…” he bent and kissed me, stealing the words.  
“You will be fine.” He said eventually, letting me go.  
“Yeah, I will.” I smiled at him. “We just need to take Josh home.”  
“I’m not going home.” Josh argued.  
“Bundled in a tote bag and unconscious if necessary.” I said not looking taking my eyes from Jean Claude.  
“Let him come.” He said quietly.  
“You are shitting me?” I said, my eyes wide.  
“We will all keep him safe, you will not lose and you will hopefully scare him enough to change his mind.”  
“If it’s not too late already.”  
“If it is not too late already.” He repeated. “It may work in all our favours.”  
“How do you do that?”  
“Do what?” he frowned.  
“Make me feel like it’s a good idea even though I know it sucks?”  
“Once upon a time you would have ignored that feeling.” He smiled.   
“Yeah, I would.”  
“And you don’t know whether to be angry about it or not.”  
“No, I don’t.” I frowned; maybe I should have been mad, at least worse than I was, but with the three of them this close to me it was too hard, too hard to think about being angry in the comfort of their arms. I sighed and leaned back against Micah who took the hint and stepped back. “But I think I ought to be.” I moved away from the three of them and went to where Josh was sitting beside Jason on the couch. Someone had found him jeans and a t-shirt from somewhere and he looked more comfortable than he had yesterday in leather.  
“So I’m staying.” Josh smiled.  
“You’re staying.” I nodded. “Unless things change for the worse.”   
Josh smiled, like he’d won. I hoped it didn’t turn into a hollow victory for him.  
I had to call Dad and tell him Josh wanted to stay a couple more days. Funny how something so mundane was so much scarier than the thought of going into battle. Nathaniel offered himself up as Jean Claude’s breakfast and they went off to do the deed. It was late afternoon and I assumed Judith would be at home and Dad would be at work. I didn’t really want to talk to Judith so I figured I’d try Dad at work.  
He was with a client but I offered to sit on hold, Jean Claude wouldn’t sweat the phone bill, and it was a few minutes of cheesy music before the line was answered. “Hello?”   
“Hi, Dad.”  
“Anita?”  
“Yeah, it’s me.” Who else would it be? Andrea didn’t call him Dad.  
“Has Josh been behaving himself?”   
I looked at Josh. “Dad says have you been behaving yourself?”  
He shrugged. “Tell him as well as I can.”  
“I heard him.” Dad said before I relayed it. “Are you on your way home?”  
I smiled. He still called it home although I hadn’t lived there for years. “Actually, no. Josh wanted to stay a couple more days. I told him that was okay.”  
“Oh.” He seemed surprised. “Any reason?”  
“We’re having fun.” I lied. “I guess I hadn’t realised how much I missed him.”  
“It’s nice the two of you are spending time together but I still need to punish him for lying to me.”  
“He’s pretty much been punished enough already.” I said.  
“What did you do to him?” Dad’s voice was very controlled as though he wasn’t sure what I might have done, but not wanting to believe I would do something to hurt Josh seriously.  
“I ranted and raved a bit, screamed at him, made his life hell for a few hours. Nothing serious.” I thought for a moment, most of the yelling had been about him wanting to be a were, I hadn’t really berated him a whole lot about being underage and drunk once I’d found out about that. But he had been yelled at while hungover regardless, and maybe that would help.  
“Are you still there, Anita?”  
“Sorry, Dad, I was just thinking how green Josh was the morning after. And how much greener he was when I yelled at him.”  
“I’d still like to have a word with the boy myself.”   
“I know and I bet Judith does too. Can I ask you one thing?”  
“Of course.”  
“Don’t call him boy. Young man suits him better.”  
“Alright. Young man. I suppose you’re right.” I could hear him smiling. “If you really want to spend some more time together I guess I can’t argue with that but make sure he knows he’s not off the hook.”  
I laughed. “I think he knows that but he’ll be glad you let him stay a little longer.”  
“Just out of curiosity, what is he doing for clothes?”  
“He’s borrowing.” I thought for a moment. “Perhaps I should take him shopping. At least for underwear.”  
“I’m sure he’d appreciate that, and of course I’ll reimburse you anything you spend.”   
“No, that’s okay, Dad, I don’t mind treating him.”  
“Okay, but nothing too expensive and no designer gear either, he’s still being punished.”  
I laughed. “Alright, I’ll take him to a dollar store or something. One of us will call you when we’re on our way back with him.”  
“One of you?” He asked.  
“Micah or Nathaniel or myself. Or maybe Josh. Speaking of, do you want to talk to him?”  
“I think I should, yes.”  
I held the phone out to Josh. “Your turn.” I smiled slightly.  
He cringed as he got up and came over. “I’m still in trouble, right?”  
“What do you think?” I raised my eyebrows at him.  
He sighed and took the phone from me. Setting his shoulders he raised it to his ear and said confidently; “Hi, Dad.”  
I went and sat in Josh’s vacated seat next to Jason as Josh apologised profusely and continuously. “Oh to be that young again.” Jason said.  
I glanced at him where he sat with his arms spread out, one ankle on top of the opposite knee. “You’re not exactly ancient yourself.”  
“No, but I remember the days when coming home drunk was the biggest trouble I used to get in.” He sighed as though this were a trip down memory lane. “Those were the days.”  
“Are you pining for them?” I said in disbelief.  
“No.” He laughed sitting forward. “I just can’t believe I was so naïve to think that was the worst.”  
“I remember the first time I got into trouble for staying out too late.” Micah said coming over. “I was grounded for a month and had to help do the laundry.”  
“What was your biggest grounding?” Jason said looking at me.  
“Me?” I said, surprised.   
He nodded with a grin. “I want to know what naughty things you did before you became really naughty.”  
I thought for a moment. “I don’t know. I mean I broke curfew a couple of times but that was mostly to sit around in cemeteries during break from Washington U, but I could pass that off as the equivalent of studying at the library.”  
“Aw, nothing really bad?” He looked disappointed.  
“Not really.” I shrugged. “I left home virtually when I was eighteen and I got treated like an adult. Judith wasn’t bothered if I was home or not and as long as I saw Dad at dinner he was happy. I preferred it that way.”  
“Do you think they’ll be the same with Josh?” Micah asked although I thought he already knew the answer.  
“No, I don’t. He’s the baby of the family; they’re in no rush to have him grow up.”  
“Poor kid.” Jason said. “Bet they’d be even worse if they knew what his preferred career choice is.”  
“They’d probably have him committed for his own safety. No Grandma Flores for him to go stay with.”  
“That was your mom’s mom, right?” Jason said and I nodded. “What do you think your folks will do if he is infected already?”  
“I don’t know. I think Dad would come to accept it, after the initial shock, at least I hope so. It worries me that Judith might try and put him in a safe house.” I watched Josh as he sucked up to Dad as best as a telephone would allow. He ran his hand into his hair and the light caught his face and I realised just how young he really was. I didn’t remember ever being that young or naïve, I knew I must have been but maybe Mom dying when I was so young and roadkill following me home had made me cynical early on. I didn’t want Josh to lose that light in his eyes; I didn’t want him to see the nasty shit I dealt with up close.  
“What’s wrong?” Jason said. Micah was sitting on the arm beside me and didn’t have a good view of my face but I knew Jason could see every emotion crossing it.  
“I’m gonna end up corrupting the poor bastard.” I said quietly. “Hell, I already have, it’s my fault this is what he wants.”  
Jason put his arm around me and pulled me into a hug. “Don’t fret about it. At least you’ve shown him the truth about it. Can you imagine if he’d succeeded the other night before Richard caught him? You’ve done the best you can do in the situation, the only thing you’re guilty of is being his sister. And maybe caring too much, but we know you do that anyway.”  
I felt Micah slip onto the couch behind me and touch my back softly. I sighed. “Alright, I’ll stop worrying about him.”  
“No, you won’t.” Jason laughed and it rumbled through me. “But you can start to let him take some of the responsibility for his own decisions, a little of the blame. I wasn’t much older than him when I was infected and I don’t blame anybody, not even Raina.”  
I sat back but didn’t leave his arms and smiled as I looked into his pale blue eyes. “Look at you, all grown up and offering The Executioner advice.”  
“I’ve always offered you advice.” He smiled. “You just didn’t listen.”  
“Thank you.” I kissed him quickly.  
“You’re welcome.” He leant in for another kiss, one I knew he’d make last but Micah said; “Josh is off the phone.” Which stopped us and we turned and looked at Josh.  
“Did you have fun?” I asked him.  
He pulled a face. “I’m grounded for a month when I get home and my allowance is on hiatus until further notice.”  
“Ouch.” Micah said before kissing the back of my head and getting up. “But you’re allowed to stay which is a plus.” He looked at me. “Did I hear you say you’re taking Josh shopping?”  
“Dammit, you mean you heard? I thought I’d got away with it.” I smiled when I said it, Micah knew I had no love of shopping but I also hoped he knew I was joking.  
“I heard you threaten me with clothes from the dollar store.” Josh pulled a face.  
“That was a joke, I’m not that cruel. We’ll go after Jean Claude has done his negotiating with the council. I want to know what’s going on.”  
“And we can wait for Nathaniel; he’s a better shopper than you.” Micah pointed out. What could I say, he was right.


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shopping! Yuck!

As always the council managed to surprise me. But, also as always, it was good and bad surprises. I could have weapons. Just knives, but it was a start. Jean Claude said he had just the outfit that would enable me to maximise the potential of that term. I dreaded to think but if it was from Jean Claude for battle it would be comfortable, practical, tooled to the hilt with knives, leather and look like I was a dominatrix.   
Then the bad news. No powers, from either of us, it was hand to hand; she could use claws, I got knives, end of story. Either of us using powers would forfeit both the fight and our life. I didn’t like that prospect so I was as alone as I could be, no calling on the triumvirate or the marks for strength, just me and my extra strength. Oh and knives. Let’s not forget the knives.  
So now that was done the next three hours were spent shopping. I hated it, Nathaniel thought it was great, Jason tried to give Josh a taste of what it would be like to have a teasing older brother, which Josh seemed to appreciate, and Micah hung onto my hand and distracted me when I needed it, getting frustrated when Josh had to try on three or four pairs of jeans for just the right fit would have ended in me yelling if Micah hadn’t taken me for a coffee and a little kissing. I had to remember to take him shopping next time I went just for the sheer enjoyment of his lips tasting of coffee.  
Two pairs of jeans, socks, five t-shirts and some sneakers later and all we had left was underwear. I tried to avoid it; I really did, using Micah so I wouldn’t have to look at what underwear Nathaniel and Jason were suggesting to Josh, but in the end I had to step in.  
“What underwear do you normally wear?” I asked, leaving the sanctity of Micah’s arms for the suggestive grins on Jason and Nathaniel’s faces as I stalked through the aisles of men’s smalls.  
“I normally wear briefs.” Josh said, avoiding eye contact. “But I’m willing to try something else.”  
“What is the something else you’ve been offering him?” I looked at Jason suspiciously. I did not want to think about my brother swapping underwear tips with Jason and Nathaniel, as great as they were I knew their tastes could be exotic.  
“Nothing too scandalous.” He held a black thong up for me to see. At least it was cloth, I guess, and not leather.  
“Alright.” I nodded. “Josh, get just the one g-string, if you like it then you can buy more another time, if you don’t you didn’t waste a heap of cash on uncomfortable smalls. Are we done now?”  
“Almost.” Nathaniel said, grabbing my hand and pulling me across the store behind him. “One more stop.”  
“Where are we going now?” I complained. “He has everything he needs, right?”  
“Yeah, but I have instructions from Jean Claude.” He gave me a grin.  
“His priorities are off.” I shook my head as we arrived at the ladies underwear. “I don’t have time to be shopping for underwear.”  
“It’ll all make sense in a minute or two, I promise.”  
I glanced back. “Where did the others go?”  
“To pay for Josh’s purchases.” He said stopping at a display of boxed bras. Not the sexy stuff I’d been expecting him to stop at but it sure made me curious.  
“I don’t think you’ve ever shown an interest in this kind of underwear before. It’s actually practical.” I picked up a box and examined it. It had clear straps and a clear back so that you could still be supported with either a strapless or backless outfit. Personally I thought being able to see plastic straps was tacky so I was sure if we got one of these I wouldn’t be wearing it.  
“We don’t need one like that.” He took the box off me and put it back. “I have to find one to go under the outfit Jean Claude has for you for tomorrow.”  
“You know what I’m wearing for the challenge?” I asked him in surprise.  
“Of course, Jean Claude showed me before we left. When you said we were coming to the mall Jean Claude asked if I’d save him the job of sending someone out for underwear for you.”  
“It’d better not be backless.” I said, noting he was reading the back of a multi-way bra box. “I don’t want that much flesh on display if someone wants to rip me to pieces.”  
“I can tell you one thing about your outfit.” He smiled at me. “It covers everything it should to help protect vital areas.”  
I frowned. “That doesn’t tell me much.”   
“You know Jean Claude likes to be cryptic.” He said with a smile settling on the multi-way, black with no see through straps at least. “One more thing.” He took my hand and led me through the racks to the individual panties.  
“I could order you to tell me.” I said, pulling on his hand and making him face me.  
“But then Jean Claude might punish me and you don’t want that.” His raised eyebrows and smile told me he knew I didn’t.  
“Did Jean Claude threaten you?” My frown was back.  
“No.” He shook his head. “Because he doesn’t like you mad at him either.”  
“So give me a couple more hints,” I raised his hand to my lips and kissed the tips of his fingers, “please?”  
“That’s cheating.” He said quietly as the smile slipped from his face. I bit the tip of this finger and he closed his eyes, drawing in a sharp breath.  
“Just a little more detail.” I said. “I won’t tell him you told.”  
“It’s black.” He murmured.  
“And?” I asked, biting my way to his palm.  
“You’ll like it, it’s practical.”   
“I have to make a show of it, right?” I bit his wrist and he moaned audibly. “So it’s probably leather.”  
“Partly.” I bit his wrist hard and his eyes flew open, looking at me with barely contained desire.  
“Okay, that’s enough for now.” I kissed his wrist softly and lowered our hands. “Later though.”  
“Don’t stop.” He murmured and I laughed slightly.  
“I can’t do you in a mall, Nathaniel.” I said with a soft smile.  
“Just mark me, please.” He squeezed my hand slightly.  
“Nathaniel,” I started to shake my head but he interrupted.  
“Just tooth prints, on my wrist, you can be subtle but please, please, Anita.” His face was as pleading as his voice and I didn’t want to say no. This for him was a big deal and I didn’t want to deny him, he’d already said I could be subtle and it was the wrist, not his neck or chest.  
I raised his hand back up to my face and watched as his eyes fluttered closed when my lips touched his wrist. He sighed as my teeth brushed his skin and as I sunk them into his flesh he made a gasp followed by a satisfied moan in his throat. I stopped just shy of breaking the skin and drew back; lowering his hand and releasing it but that didn’t last long as he grabbed my hand again like it was a lifeline and dropped to his knees.  
“Can I help you with something?” I looked across the display to see a store assistant looking at us curiously.  
“He lost a contact.” I said with a smile. “We’re fine, thank you.” He nodded and left us, as though he didn’t quite believe it but didn’t know what else to say.  
I turned back to Nathaniel who was in a slumped kneel at my feet, his hand still holding mine. “Nathaniel?” I asked softly.  
“Thank you.” He whispered and looked up at me, his face was satisfied and his eyes shining.  
I crouched before him. “Can you get up?”  
“In a second.” He nodded. “I didn’t mean to make a scene.”  
“You didn’t.” I smiled. “But we have some real big shit going down soon and we need to finish shopping and get home.”  
“Okay.” He smiled back. I helped him get to his feet.  
“Would you two get a room?” I shot my wide eyed gaze round to find the face that went with the voice.  
“We dropped something.” I frowned at Zebrowski. Not just Zebrowski though, his wife, Katie, too.  
“A likely story.” Zebrowski wiggled his eyebrows. “Do I need to take the two of you in for indecent behaviour?”  
“Only if I can take you in for crimes against fashion.” I nodded towards his loud tie that clashed with his blue shirt and brown, wrinkled suit. “Seriously, Katie, how do you let him out of the house liking like that?”  
“We can’t all have men with as much fashion sense as yours have.” Katie smiled. She was a lovely woman, in personality and looks. She was slender with long blonde hair and if they’d had kids I’d have assumed Zebrowski got her knocked up but they didn’t so there was obviously something to the shabby cop I didn’t see.  
“This is true.” I nodded.  
“So what you buying there, Blake?” Zebrowski came around the corner to see what Nathaniel was holding.  
“Practical.” Nathaniel said holding up the box. “Nothing scandalous, detective.”  
“Damn shame.” Zebrowski said until Katie hit him in the arm. “Ouch.”  
“Ignore him, Anita. I usually do.”  
I laughed. I’d learned that ignoring Zebrowski was not easily done but maybe she had something over him I didn’t. Like a marriage certificate. “So what are you doing in ladies lingerie, Zebrowski?”  
“You know, if I had a choice I’d never leave it.” He shrugged and got punched again in the arm by Katie. I always had liked her. “What about you?” He rubbed his arm.  
“I needed a practical bra for a particular outfit.”  
“And the underwear?”  
“That’s more information than Anita should have to share.” Katie said. “I’ll drag this letch away so you can shop in peace.”  
“Thanks, Katie.” I smiled.  
“Come for dinner soon, okay?” She said as she dragged Zebrowski away.  
“Yeah, and wear nice underwear.” Zebrowski called.  
“Why? You’ll never see it.” I called back.  
“Nicely handled.” Nathaniel said softly as he chose some underwear; plain black and smooth as though I was going to be wearing something tight over it and lace might show.  
“Thanks. Can we pay now?”  
“We’re done.” He smiled at me.  
I hoped we were. Zebrowski seeing me amongst so much underwear wasn’t something I wanted to repeat.


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a little talking between a Nimir Ra and Raj.

I had forgotten I’d promised to let Josh speak with Tammy. Who knew if I’d get the chance the next day or afterwards so I called Larry as soon as we got in from shopping. I sat at Jean Claude’s desk to make the call and realised my feet were killing me already, that was one downside to shopping; it just wasn’t distraction enough from the pain it caused. At eight that evening I knocked on the door to Larry and Tammy’s apartment with Josh. Micah was going to go home and meet the glazier to repair the door, thank goodness he was one of the lukoi and didn’t mind the awkward hours, and Nathaniel and Jason both had work to do so it was just Josh and I.  
Tammy and Josh spoke for some time while Larry and I talked shop in the kitchen. About an hour and a half passed and Josh was ready to go. He seemed happy enough with Tammy’s advice and she suspected it was psychic ability although time would tell. She offered to have some of her higher church members talk to him and run some magical tests. I said we’d work that out another time. Right now I had other things to worry about. Like if I’d be around for another time.  
Micah and I sparred for a while, mostly for my own sanity that I didn’t feel like I was sitting on my hands while everyone else carried on with their normal everyday lives. Josh watched us with interest until Micah bested me, pinning me to the floor and kissing me. That single kiss reminded us the ardeur needed feeding and we left Josh to his own devices for a while.  
After totally abusing Jean Claude’s bed Micah and I lay in one another’s arms recovering. He was so warm and in a vague way I felt safe laying here surrounded by him, but deep down I knew it was a lie. You were never safe. If you thought you were you were in serious denial.  
“Penny for your thoughts?” Micah asked, propping himself up on one elbow.  
“I’m not sure they’re worth that much.” I said, smiling lazily.  
“Worrying about tomorrow night?” He guessed.  
“Actually no, not directly.”  
“So what made you look so serious all of a sudden?”  
“Human failing.”  
“Which one?” He traced my eyebrow with his fingertip.  
“Naivety.” I closed my eyes while his finger trailed down my cheek.  
“Josh.” He said. I guess it was a fair assumption that I could have been talking about Josh.  
“No, me.” I laughed softly, opening my eyes.  
“What are you being naïve about?”  
“It’s just post sex glow, that’s all.” I said as I snuggled up against him.  
“How can post sex glow make you naïve and serious all at once?”  
“Seriously naïve?” I suggested with raised eyebrows.  
“You are definitely not that.” He leant in and kissed me softly.  
“Maybe.” I shrugged. “Its just some things that you take for granted shouldn’t be.”  
“What shouldn’t be taken for granted then?” He settled back down beside me.  
“How soft your lips are on my skin, that’s one thing.” I turned my head as he looked up at me through his dark lashes while kissing my shoulder.  
“That’s not what made you think something naively though.” He murmured.  
“No, its not.”  
He raised his head enough that his lips hovered over mine. “So what did?”  
“I am so comfortable here.” I leant in and kissed him softly.  
“There’s nothing serious or naïve about that.”  
“There is because it’s a lie.”  
“Are you going to kill the romance with a skewed logic twist?” He raised an eyebrow at me.  
“Probably.” I shrugged.  
“I just decided, you’re not allowed.”  
“I’m what?” I looked at him in surprise.   
“You’re not allowed to ruin this moment with insecurities. You’re comfortable, you’re allowed to be, deal with it.” He grinned.  
“But…”  
“No buts!” He stopped me with a kiss. “I love laying and holding you, I feel loved and happy. There’s nothing to beat this feeling. Enjoy it.”  
“I’m really not allowed to explain myself?”  
“No, you’re not. You can lay here and tell me how happy you are but you can’t lay here and tell me what’s wrong with us laying here holding one another.”  
I sighed. “I do like it, Micah, I love it. There’s nothing compares to the comfort of this.” I rested my head on his chest. “I just got too comfortable. I’m sorry.”   
“There’s no such thing as too comfortable.” He rested his head on top of mine and held me close. “Not when this is what it refers to. Just lay here and enjoy.”  
So I did.


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jason helps Anita's mood.

How do you sleep the night before you’re due to fight a wereleopard to the death? You don’t, not easily. You lay awake long after your boyfriends are asleep, finally getting up, dressing and going for a walk.   
It was early, or late depending on your definition; early for normal people who would be getting up for work in a few hours, late for those of us who lived during the night. The circus had closed almost an hour ago and the clean up before tonight’s proceedings was underway, but I didn’t venture there. Instead I went outside, through the storage area and into the staff parking lot. I just wanted some fresh air and some peace. I got one of them.  
The air was freezing; Micah was right, it did smell like snow, and I walked across the gravel in the dim light given by the streetlights stopping by the road, just wanting to have a look around and see if anyone was around but instead I nearly got mown down by a speeding POS pulling into the parking lot. I started to yell at it until I recognised it as Jason’s. He hadn’t come home with Nathaniel earlier, he had something else to do, I wondered if it was a someone else but didn’t ask it.   
“What the heck are you doing out in the cold?” He called, getting out of the car as I stalked back towards him.  
“Avoiding maniac drivers.” I frowned at him.  
“You’re not wearing a coat.” He frowned back.  
“Neither are you.” We glared at each other for a moment then his face split into a grin.  
“Let’s go get a drink.” He cocked his head.  
I shook mine. “I should be sleeping.”  
“To hell with that. You don’t look like you’re ready.” He offered me a hand. “Just one drink, you can even have coke.”  
“Like I’d have something else.”  
“Like I’d bother to offer.” He wiggled the fingers on his outstretched hand.  
I sighed. “Alright.” I reached out and took his hand.  
“Shit, you’re cold.” He shut the car door and locked it.  
“Minus three, is it?” I asked.  
“I don’t know, your nipples say about minus five.”  
I glanced down then back at his smiling face and snatched my hand back. “Well, there goes your drink.” And I headed back towards the door.  
“I’m just kidding. I’ll get you a coat then we can go for that drink?” He caught me up.  
I narrowed my eyes at him. “We both get coats.”  
“I’m not cold.” He said.  
“No but you might draw too much attention dressed like that.” I indicated his black leather pants and fishnet vest.  
“I don’t mind the attention.” He shrugged. I gave him a look. “I’ll grab a coat too.” He conceded.  
Ten minutes later we were walking toward Dead Dave’s, looking like we had fallen out of the same wardrobe. Apart from my Nikes and his boots; my denim, his leather pants and our hair we were identical from height to black leather trench coats; black all over except Jason’s hair. Oh and his trench was belted whereas mine was loose.  
He didn’t try and hold my hand again, didn’t offer me his arm, but he did make sure I was on the inside of the sidewalk. I knew it was something Jean Claude would have drummed into him and as gentlemanly gestures went it was one I could put up with.  
“Did I miss anything while I was at work?” He asked finally breaking the silence.  
“Nope.” I glanced across the street at a couple walking in the opposite direction.  
“Wow, nothing?” He looked surprised.  
“Micah and I fed the ardeur.” I shrugged.  
“And what did Josh do?”  
“He went back to your room. I think he had a bath.”  
“Do you remember being Josh’s age?” Jason asked.  
“Kind of. You?”  
He smiled. “Yeah, I remember my eighteenth birthday.”  
“Is it a tale of hormone fuelled teenage debauchery?”  
He laughed and I was reminded how much he had grown up since we first met. “I thought it was going to be. All I accomplished was my head down the toilet and a brain splitting hangover.” He looked at me with a wistful gaze. “But you know what I remember most?”  
“The headache?” I teased.  
“No. I remember thinking before I left the house that night how I was an adult and I’d behave like one. No one could have told me otherwise. When you’re that age you don’t listen to the advice you’re given, you have to learn your own lessons, make your own mistakes.”  
“You think Josh will still choose lycanthropy.” I stated.  
“I don’t know what he’ll choose, but I do know that even though being young makes us stupid it’s still his decision, it won’t be your fault.”  
“I’m done blaming myself.” I smiled at him as we reached the door to Dead Dave’s which stood open letting out the noise, light and smells of a busy bar.  
“Good.” He smiled back. “Now, my treat, what are you having ?”  
Even at this early hour the place was heaving. We found a spot by the back wall, seating was at a premium, but at least here no one was jostling my back. I spoke briefly to Dave and Luther, and Jason said hi to a couple of people, but mostly we were left alone. It was only when I hid a yawn behind my hand that Jason suggested we head back to the circus.   
“I don’t think you have anything to worry about.” Jason’s statement confused me. I wasn’t exactly sure what we were talking about.  
“I don’t?”  
“No. You kick ass in a fight and take no prisoners. You’re a master or alpha whatever you are and you might not go furry but you outclass this Azure woman on so many levels. You’ll win, hands down.”  
I stared at him for a moment, now knowing what he was referring to. “Thanks.” I said, genuinely surprised.  
“Why do you look like I just slapped you with a stick of celery?” He screwed up his nose.  
“What?”  
“All surprised. Surely you know you can beat her?”  
I shrugged. “I guess but I never take anything for granted, including breathing. I’ll do my best to win.”  
“But you still think there’s a chance you might lose.” He finished for me. “You have to believe you can beat her.”  
“I do. I know I can, but there’s always the chance that I’m going to be wrong. Always that margin for error, that I hope I never fall into.”  
He smiled at me and took my arm in his. “You’ll win. Wasn’t it Joan of Arc who said ‘we shall overcome’?”  
“I think that was the Salvation Army.”  
“Same difference.” He shrugged and I laughed. Only Jason could get away with a mistake like that and make it cute.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The fight is coming, I promise!


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prep for the fight begins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters today, because I'm feeling kind, it's almost the weekend, and that means tomorrow will be the fight!

I looked in the mirror, unsure what to think or say. The outfit was very me, practical as hell for tonight but had little hints of Jean Claude about it too. From top to toe; my hair was up, not through choice, but for practicality. Nathaniel had fastened it to the top of my head securely but it was still a mass of curls with the odd one escaping to trail around my face. My eye shadow was black, purple, silver and lilac with purple lipstick, which was a touch gothic for my taste but matched the tone of the outfit.  
The top was boned like a corset with the same affect on my breasts but it was more practical than just to give me a lift. The sleeves were long and tight, running down to a point where an elasticated loop hooked over my middle fingers. This allowed the inside of the sleeve to be cut away, giving me access to my wrist sheaths. I also had a knife on each upper arm, hilt facing down. My large knife was in its sheath on my back and on the base of my back, either side of my spine were two more knives, again with hilts down and facing outward for a fast draw. The neck was low, showing a good deal of soft flesh which was the first Jean Claude hint aside from the colour and fabric. The next hint was the soft leather pants, tight but not restrictive, they fit where they touched and moved freely without creaking. There was a sheath on each outer thigh too. The pants ran into leather knee length boots with a small heel and more knives; two on each, one hilt up, one hilt down so I could grab whichever was easiest.  
I sighed and Nathaniel, who was teasing curls to hang down around my neck, looked at me in the reflection of the mirror.  
“You don’t like it.” He smiled sympathetically.  
“Actually I do.” I frowned. “It’s black, covered in knives, not too uncomfortable or revealing. It’s not bad.”  
“Then what made you sigh?” Micah asked. He was sitting on the bed in a charcoal grey suit, dark green shirt and two tone green tie. His shoes were on the floor and he was sitting crosslegged.  
“I don’t know.” I shrugged. “Probably something to do with the fact whenever I have to get dressed up lately it’s for some kind of battle.”  
“It just seems like that.” He smiled at me.  
“I have to go check on Jason and Josh.” Nathaniel said and kissing me gently on the cheek he left us.  
I tested the knives for draw, starting with the familiar wrist sheaths, then upper arms, thighs, and so on, until I got to the two on my back and couldn’t re-sheath them.  
“Let me help.” Micah got off the bed. He’d been sitting quietly watching me, letting me concentrate.  
“No, I can get it.” I muttered.  
“You’ll end up stabbing yourself in the back.” He stood behind me and grabbed my wrists, holding me still. “You won’t need to sheath them again during the fight so you just need to be able to draw them smoothly, which you can.” I leant back against him at my shoulder and he bent his head and kissed my shoulder. “Your hair looks nice up.”  
“I prefer it down.”  
“I know.” He smiled at our reflections and guiding my hands, he slid the knives back into the sheaths but didn’t release me. Even in my inch high boots and him barefoot our bodies fit together like they were meant to be there. “That doesn’t mean it doesn’t look good.”  
“I need you to promise me something.” I said, my voice quiet and serious as I gave him him eye contact in the mirror.  
“Anything.” He kissed the side of my head.  
“If things get too messy…”  
“I’ll get Josh out before he sees too much.”  
“Thanks.” I smiled, as relieved as I could be.  
“But remember what we showed him? I’m not sure tonight is going to get messier than that.”  
“Yeah, but that was controlled. We knew what was going to happen and could have stopped it at any time.”  
“Just don’t be flashy and end it fast.” He wrapped his arms around me still holding my wrists so both our arms encircled me.  
“I intend to.” I said sincerely.  
The door opened and we turned to see Jean Claude standing in the doorway, dressed in a royal blue frock coat, cream frilly shirt and black leather pants and boots. “It is time, ma petite.”  
“I’m ready.” I said, stepping away from Micah and walking confidently towards him.  
“You look lovely.” He smiled.  
“Enough compliments,” I pushed past him, not wanting to get any more emotional, “I’m in the mood to kick some furry ass.”


	22. Chapter 22

The evening was being billed as a theatrical performance, a dramatisation of a battle for supremacy to the death. Couldn’t have Joe Public thinking someone was really going to die for their entertainment. That would be much too ancient Rome for such a modern city.   
We were allowed early admittance and given a private dressing room, although really it was a waiting room, we were already dressed after all. Nathaniel was allowed to stay with me until my curtain call but the others; Jean Claude, Master of the City; Micah, my Nimir Raj and Josh, Azure’s target, needed to be on display before the show began for official reason. Nathaniel just wasn’t high enough up the food chain to warrant being seen but he didn’t mind and I was glad to have him with me. Waiting was one of my least favourite things.   
We sat in the director style chairs opposite one another, each with our left knee bent and foot on the seat, right legs extended to rest between to others legs. Nathaniel's fingers were slowly stroking the top of my booted foot while my arms were crossed, playing absently with my wrist sheaths.   
“You know, it’s a shame the council would kill us if I just went to her dressing room and offed her.” I commented.  
“If the council wouldn’t kill us I’d do it myself.” He wrinkled his nose. It was semi private here; four walls that were ours but were that flimsy plastic of a circus tent. But then that’s what this was, a great big circus tent that had become a modern coliseum.   
“You’d do that?” I leant forward in my chair, slipping my hand up the cuff of his pants to touch his skin.  
“I’d try. I’d lose but I’d try.” He gave me a sideways smile.  
“I appreciate the offer.” I smiled back. “But you don’t need to die tonight.”  
“Neither do you.”  
“Five minutes, Ms Blake.” A voice came from the other side of the flap they called the door.  
I sighed and, getting up, picked up the one part of the outfit I’d been given when I got here, the one part I didn’t like; a black mask. It had ears and whiskers like a cat, black sequins and velvet that made it sparkle yet seem touchable and soft at the same time, it covered me from forehead to nose. Nathaniel stood behind me and helped me position the elastic behind my head as I sighed at my reflection. No one would know who I was, other than the wereleopard’s Nimir Ra, but my peripheral vision was shot. I guess I was relying on my instincts and natural abilities more than ever.  
I went for the door but Nathaniel stopped me, a hand on the top of each of my arms, his face serious. “I don’t want to mess your lipstick up.” He said as he lowered his head, and bypassing my lips, placed a firm, wet kiss on the big pulse in my neck. It was a vampire gesture, one of trust, but it made my breath catch and my eyes close. I opened them again as he moved back. “Go get her.”  
“For more of that I’d take on the entire council myself.” I smiled reassuringly at him and walked away, knowing there was a chance I may never see him again.


	23. Chapter 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The time for the battle has come!

“Ladies and gentlemen, what you are about to see has rarely been witnessed by mortal eyes.” Ocean’s voice rang clearly through the tent, which would have been packed to the rafters, if it had any. “A battle between two alpha wereleopards is not for the fainthearted, especially when they will remain in human form throughout. Special rules have been set which they both understand but would take too long to explain to you now, know only this, our melodrama is very realistic and will leave you wondering just whether it was real or not.”  
I was standing in the pitch black ring, waiting for our cue. Nero had taken me to my spot and wished me luck, apparently all the leopards were behind me but after their revolt earlier I was sure Azure would take it out on them in a big way if she won.  
A spotlight turned on Azure to reveal her wearing what could only be described as a glorified Broadway dancer’s tails suit. Leopard print from her top hat, tails jacket and hot pants to the thigh length boots, the only thing that wasn’t leopard print was her fishnet hose. I realised we looked like both kinds of leopards; her representing the spotted while I was the black; worse still she looked like the light to my dark. Her mask was spotted as mine was black and she posed in the spotlight, evidently used to being part of the show.   
“An alpha female wishes to move up the hierarchy, but to do so she must go through the existing Nimir Ra, the leopard queen.” A spotlight sprang on me and I squinted in the glare, temporarily blinded. “Who leaves here with their life is not for me to say, the only thing I can say is; let battle commence!”  
The full lights went up and Azure started to edge sideways, I guess she was waiting for me to rush her. She’d have a long wait; no way I was rushing headlong to my doom. I stepped in the opposite direction so we circled and some music from a movie battle I couldn’t place started up through speakers around the big top. Still she didn’t attack. So I stopped. I kept turning on the spot for the few paces she continued strafing before she too stopped. She cocked her head as though studying me, wondering what I was doing.  
“Come on, you bitch,” I muttered, “no way I’m coming to you.”  
Someone in the audience yelled; “Boring!” And she rushed at me. I guess she thought it might have distracted me but she was wrong. It takes more than an impatient moron to put me off. She came at me with that incredible speed lycanthropes have and knew the audience would only see a blur. I drew the two knives on my thighs and waited for her, waited for the curl of lycanthropic energy that reached out to the leopardess in me then quickly side stepped, bringing both knives down into her back as her own momentum carried her past where I had stood. She screamed and turned, wrenching the knives from my hands but I let them go, I had more. She lashed out with hands that were now claws as I jumped back, missing me by millimetres as the crowd gasped and cheered. She jerked the knives from her back and let them fall to the floor as she turned on me, her face one of anger. I drew the two knives at the base of my spine and stood ready for her and I wasn’t disappointed. She rushed at me head on but I had been hoping for a head on attack. As her claws reached me I slapped them away from me with the knives, catching her wrists as I let her momentum hit me, carrying me onto my back and sliding one of the knives into her chest as I rolled back, flipping her over my head and following her as I drove the knife home. Or tried to. The knife hit something solid and wouldn’t go any further. I thought it could be her rib cage but the knife wasn’t in far enough and as we righted with me straddling her I realised her outfit wasn’t as fitted as it could have been. The bitch was wearing a Kevlar vest. With her right claw she grabbed my right arm and laughed in my face, stabbing her claws into me.  
“I’m going to enjoy playing with you, cat and mouse style!” She spat and threw me from her forcibly; dragging her claws across my arm, no doubt leaving several bloody trails but for now I was worried about landing. I dropped my one remaining knife as I flew sideways through the air in case I landed on it; now would be a bad time to stab myself; then braced myself to land. I hit the sawdust on my right side and slid along the floor for some way. The pain in my right arm was sudden and immediate and followed by a worrying numbness. I was afraid she’d damaged something serious but got to my feet even though the room span for a moment. I drew the knife from my right wrist left handed, shaking my right arm hoping for more feeling to return. Blood ran freely and dripped off my fingers in large drops which was worrying too. I looked around and couldn’t see her. For a moment I considered telling Jean Claude she had cheated but then I’d be cheating too, and I wasn’t sure he could do anything to stop this now it was started, so I didn’t. I just stood as ready as I could, waiting for her attack. She’d said cat and mouse which meant she was going to play with me, make me overthink and get sloppy, then smack me again until she got bored. I didn’t like that idea.  
I felt the curl of energy reach me before the knife was knocked from my hand and my feet from under me. Before I even hit the ground my boots were snatched off me leaving me with even less weaponry than before, not to mention barefoot. I hate being barefoot. All I had left was the two knives on my upper arms, the left wrist, which I couldn’t get unless my right arm got some feeling back, and the large knife on my back which I wasn’t great with left handed. Not great odds but I knew now she wanted to do run by’s and not up close just yet, that might just work to my advantage. Still on my back I reached up with my left hand and drew the long knife from its spine sheath as I rolled over to my knees, trying to hide the blade. That was easier than it sounds, Edward had suggested I dull the blade so it didn’t glint in the light and I had, no one would be sure what I had but it didn’t sparkle like the other blades so I was hoping that it wouldn’t draw much attention as I put the hand that was curled around its pommel on the ground and started to get up, or rather pretended. I knew she’d knock me down again as soon as I started to rise, she wanted me weak and on the floor, I just had to ignore my racing heart long enough to figure out which way she was coming from so I could get a shot in. I faked that I was leaning heavily on my left hand, the blade hidden partially by the sawdust I had rucked up when I fell, my right hand hanging limp, and reached out with my senses so I could feel the energy before it reached me. She was coming at me from ahead of me, where my bowed head was and I had to time it just right.  
I felt the coil of energy shift slightly as the air moved and I spun the knife around in a clockwise direction, good and low. She was there suddenly, screaming as my knife slid through her lower body where the Kevlar vest ended and her soft abdomen began. The knife wasn’t sharp enough and I wasn’t strong enough to cleave her in half, that was a nice trick in the movies when there was a special effects crew, but in real life I just managed to gouge a deep wound and she fell past me in a stumble that took her over the blade and onto her face in the sawdust. I spun with her and threw myself to my knees on her back and positioned the long blade against her spinal column at her neck with just enough pressure that she knew I meant business. She froze under me, barely breathing as she waited for the end to come. But I didn’t finish her. There were people nastier than me out there I could send her to.  
“She broke the rules!” I yelled and the music stopped abruptly.  
Ocean’s voice came over the crowd. “Say again, Nimir Ra?”   
“She. Broke. The. Rules.” I said slowly and clearly. “She knew I could only use knives but she has protected herself with body armour. This wasn’t a fair fight from the beginning.”  
“Alpha, you will remain still.” Ocean demanded. “Can you prove your allegation, Nimir Ra?”  
“Not one handed.” I said in a normal tone, knowing he would hear me anyway. The crowd were silent, waiting for whatever would happen next.  
“Just kill me.” Azure hissed, barely breathing enough to give form to her words.  
“If I just kill you, you’re off the hook.” I said quietly. “But you broke the rules, I can hand you over to the council for judgement.”  
She seemed to freeze as the thought sunk in. Yep, the council were much scarier than me.  
“Nimir Ra?” I heard Nero’s voice from beside me and I glanced at him. “Ocean said to help you show him the proof.”  
“Sure.” I put my feet on either side of Azure and stood, then stepped to one side but kept the knife at her neck. “I don’t think we can do it with her laying down though.”  
“Just one moment, ladies and gentlemen, and we will resume our program.” Ocean’s voice rung out and the house lights dimmed, a low spotlight illuminating the ring so as not to draw too much attention to us although of course all eyes were still on us.  
“Get up nice and slowly.” I kept the knife at her neck as she moved, so she knew if she moved any way I didn’t want her to she’d find herself separated from her spine. But then a thought struck me; if it was me I’d go for the quick death rather than be sent to the council.  
She moved before I could react, leaning right and ripping Nero’s throat out in one swift motion. Someone in the audience screamed and more followed as she threw the bloody mass at me, leaping at me before Nero’s body even hit the ground.  
I turned enough that the meat hit my right shoulder and raised my blade up as she hit me harder than before, proving she really had just been playing with me. Her claws bit into my stomach as I raised the blade higher still, we fell to the ground and I felt and saw the blade slide into her throat. I felt the cold breeze of Jean Claude’s power run through me and I had feeling in my right arm again. I grabbed her hair beside her hat on my right side and pulled her head to one side as my blade ran in the opposite direction. The scream she had been emitting changed to one of surprise and then a gurgle as blood rushed over my face in a hot wave that didn’t show any sign of stopping. She fell across me, most of her body on my right guided by my hand as my blade finally slid free as she continued to gurgle.   
Everything went black and I thought I’d passed out as the stomach pain hit me in a sharp, jagged rush but I realised I could still feel the mask on my face, her body on mine and even see vague shapes. Someone had turned the lights off to hide the horror in the ring. Azure was dragged from me but now the gurgling had stopped I wasn’t sure if she was a person or just a body. “Can you stand?” Ocean’s voice was close beside me.  
“I think so.” I nodded even though he couldn’t see me.  
“We must finish this for the patrons.” He helped me to my feet and the pain shot through me again.  
“Jean Claude, please block it for me, for now.” I whispered and just like that the pain was gone. I knew it would hurt like hell soon enough but for now I was at least able to do whatever Ocean needed me to do to make the patrons feel better.  
Ocean stood beside me and took my hand and the house lights went up. I glanced around and other than the blood on the sawdust and me you wouldn’t know anything had gone on. “Ladies and gentlemen, the victor!” He raised my hand but the silence through the ring was eerie, as though they weren’t sure what to think, was it real, was it not? “And our gracious loser.” He held a hand out on his other side and from the wings came a woman dressed exactly like Azure, enough that it would fool the public. A roar of applause went up, with cat calls and whoops and yells. Ocean pulled on my hand and I realised he wanted me to bow so I did but just once, unsure what damage I’d sustained and unwilling to risk making it worse. I was coated in blood from my mask down and breathing a little too fast. It was horribly surreal and too bizarre for words. The lights went down as the applause continued and I let my body do what it wanted, despite the feel of Jean Claude keeping the pain at bay. I let it close down completely, sending me spilling to the floor but happily into the arms of the waiting blackness.


	24. Chapter 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Josh realises that maybe he was wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay you lucky peeps, two chapters today, because this is the end of Sibling Triflry! But fear not! I have one more story in this series to post! A Hit Before Dying is coming soon! I can't promise tomorrow as I am spending the day today face painting and glitter tattooing at my youngest daughter's school fair and it always wipes me out for a few days (chronic pain plus all day sitting in one position is not an ideal situation, but the kids smiling faces is worth it!) but as soon as I am able to once again sit for just five minutes to post then I will!

I woke up in a sterile environment I knew could only be a hospital. No one else had a room that was so clinical unless they had OCD.   
“Welcome back.” A warm female voice said from my side and I turned to see Doctor Lillian smiling at me. “Feel better for that?”  
“I think so.” I smiled. “How am I doing?”  
“Fine.” She nodded. “You have some delicious looking stitches that I know you’re glad you didn’t have to be awake for, and another lycanthropy scare for you, but other than that you’re just fine. Physically.”  
“And mentally?” I frowned.  
“Only you can answer that.” Her face was serious all of a sudden. “There was no reason you should have collapsed with Jean Claude blocking the pain from you. We can only assume it was because you couldn’t handle what had happened mentally.”  
I nodded. “That’s why I did it.”  
“You did it consciously?” She said in surprise.  
“I think so. I kind of thought ‘I can’t handle this, its too weird’ and as soon as the lights went out I figured that was my chance not to make a scene.”  
“Interesting.” She continued to frown. “You, Anita, rate an entire medical journal all to yourself.”  
“I know.” I smiled sadly. “Can I go?”  
She sighed as though she’d been waiting for me to ask. “If you have to, but I want you to rest. Nothing more strenuous than lifting a coffee cup for a couple of days and have those men do all the work, if you get my drift.”  
“I get it.” I laughed and sat up. My stomach felt tight from the stitches but not painful which was always great. My arm had a large bandage around it but that too felt okay.  
“So who do you want sent in first? The worried leopards, the vampire or your brother?”  
“Can’t they all come in?” I frowned again.  
“If they have to.” She pointed to the sign on the door which read; Only two visitors at a time. “As long as you don’t tell the other patients.”  
“Cross my heart.” I did.   
“Alright. Convince all these men you’re okay, get dressed and go home. They already brought you an overnight bag with all the clothes and weaponry a girl such as yourself could want.” She went to the door. “And rest!” She wagged a finger at me.  
“Yes, doc.” I saluted and she opened the door.  
“Okay, kids, form an orderly queue, she’s awake and asking to go home.” She left and the guys all came in.   
Nathaniel reached me first and hugged me tight then stepped back. Micah and Jean Claude stayed at the back of the room, just smiling reassuringly at me, they knew I was okay and would get their hugs later. Josh looked a little pale as he approached the bed. He had his hands in pockets and looked kind of sheepish.  
“Had enough of the glamorous were lifestyle yet?” I asked him with raised eyebrows. He nodded and I realised he was avoiding eye contact with me. “Josh?” He looked up and his eyes were full of tears and his bottom lip quivered. I threw back the covers and slid out of the bed, glad the gown was the wrap around kind and not the gape open showing your butt kind, and I moved him to one of the two chairs by the wall and sat us down, taking him in a hug now we were both on the same level. He sobbed and wrapped his arms round me, snuggling his head into my shoulder and letting it out. I rubbed his back and murmured it would be okay and indicated to Jean Claude to leave us. Jean Claude nodded and moved the others out. Micah touched my back softly as he left and in moments I was alone with my little brother. I let him cry it out, holding me close as sobs wracked his body. As his cries subsided a little I leant back and he took his cue, leaning back and wiping his eyes on his hands and his nose on his sleeve.  
“You wanna talk about it?” I asked quietly.  
“I don’t know.” He sniffed.  
“If you do, we can talk about it, if you don’t we won’t, but it’ll help.”  
“How will it help?” He went to drag his sleeve across his nose again but I grabbed his arm and reached behind me for the tissues. He took one. “Thanks. How can talking about it make it better? I saw that woman try and gut you, and you sliced her throat open and…” his voice broke again and he pushed the tissue to his eyes.  
“It won’t take what you’ve seen away, it won’t stop you having dreams about it, but it will stop you dwelling on it so much. It will help you get it clear in your head and help with the healing process. But now you understand why I didn’t want you involved?”  
He nodded, screwing the tissue up in his hands. “It wasn’t very nice.”  
“No, it wasn’t. I tried telling you my life isn’t a pretty place, I wanted to keep this kind of thing from you, but you insisted so I let you in and now we’re both going to have to live with what happened, but if you need me, I’m still here for you, if you ever want to talk, I’m only on the other end of the phone and we can still get together. Don’t think I’ve given you a scary experience and shut you out. The door is still open, if you ever want to use it.”  
He nodded again. “Thanks, Anita. I’m sorry I caused so much trouble.”  
“Don’t worry about it.” I smiled. “Trouble like that has a way of finding me whether you’re here or not.”  
“But if I…”  
“No buts, no dwelling on it, it’s happened now we deal with it.” I rubbed his arm. “I need to get changed and if you’re up to it, I’ll buy you a beer.”  
“I don’t think I want alcohol.” He wrinkled his nose.  
“Good boy. Coke it is.” I smiled.  
We went to a quiet bar Nathaniel knew of after dropping Jean Claude at Guilty Pleasures. In the car I’d asked him how he’d been able to get away with helping me when he did. Simple, she cheated first so we got to cheat back with no repercussions. Whatever it was it worked for me. He whispered something to me in French as I hugged him outside the car and promised to translate it for me another time. The bar was a quiet upmarket one and I looked a little out of place compared to the others who were all still in their suits. I had jeans, polo shirt and trenchcoat. Oh and Nikes of course. Black, black, black and black. Micah and Nathaniel had beers, Josh and I had cokes. We had a nice pine table at the back of the room away from the rest of the business people enjoying their pretentiously expensive glasses of wine and bottled beer after what they thought was a hard day.   
“Is this like a normal day for you guys?” Josh asked eventually. We’d ordered sandwiches and fries which we were waiting for and had been sitting in silence for some time.  
“Not really.” Micah said. “A normal day is much more boring.”  
“That’s not hard to imagine.” Josh shook his head.  
Nathaniel took it up. “We get up late, Anita goes to work about three, I do house stuff until I go to work, Micah does a lot of work from home then we all meet up later for dinner. Think a nice normal family but with strange hours and jobs and extra players.” He grinned.  
Josh nodded with a sigh. “I was so wrong to think what you do is glamorous.”  
“Oh yeah.” I spoke for the first time since ordering. “Remind me to let you come to a zombie raising some time, that’s not half as messy as tonight but its still not glamorous.”  
“I’ll pass for now.” He said and our food arrived. We all sat back as our individual orders were put in front of us and two large bowls of fries for sharing were put in the centre of the table. They bought a silly little wheel thing with bowls of sauces and spoons for serving it with and left us to it after making sure there was nothing else we needed with our fancily cut tomatoes and pricey fries. What they classed as a sandwich was actually a baguette and I was glad I’d gone for steak. I needed the protein and my stomach was rumbling just at the smell of it. The baguette was cut in half making it easier but we all sat in silence for some time eating before we were all satisfied enough to carry on conversation, hunger diverted again.   
“What time are you going to take me home tomorrow?” Josh asked, sipping his coke after finishing half of his baguette. He had a BLT.  
I checked my watch, it was barely eleven now. “If we get done, go home and sleep maybe leave at ten?”  
“Make it later.” Micah said, taking one of the fries. “You don’t want to have to excuse yourself at your folks’ because of the ardeur.”  
“Leave at midday and force feed it at eleven.” Nathaniel said, finishing his baguette. He had eaten like he was starving and was the only one among us who had eaten more than half.  
I frowned at him. “Did I neglect the feeding thing?”  
“Huh?” He picked up his beer.  
“You’re eating like I’m starving you.”  
He took a big sip of his beer and shook his head. “No, but if I eat more it’ll help you heal faster. We think.”  
“We do?”  
“It can’t hurt.” He shrugged and started on the bowl of fries nearest him.  
“I guess not. Helps you like your food too.” I smiled.  
“This is good stuff.” He smiled back. “What’s not to like?” He and Micah looked at me as though challenging me to ruin it.  
“Good food, good company. Not a thing.” I said and tucked in to the rest of my baguette.


	25. Chapter 25

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Summing up chapter.

We took Josh home after feeding the ardeur as planned the next morning. That is Micah and I took him home. Nathaniel had plans for a special dinner, now it was just the three of us again, and wanted to make plans for that. Oh and he couldn’t walk yet. The ardeur encounter would take some time to wear off so we left him to sleep.  
Josh knew enough not to tell Judith and Dad what had happened; we would both be dead meat if he did. He got sent straight to his room while I told the folks the story behind him being in St Louis and how he got to mine and then lied through my teeth about spending the last few days having a quiet time with some DVD’s and home cooked meals. We’d already gone over with Josh what the story was and he was as okay with it as he could be. Judith seemed a little unsure about the fact Josh had had home cooking, that is who exactly had done the home cooking. Nathaniel, of course. She seemed surprised a stripper could cook. I opened my mouth to suggest he stirred batter with something other than his hands but Micah seemed to sense what I was going to say and butted in, nudging me in the ribs to boot. Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea after all. Especially seeing as Micah followed up with inviting them all to Sunday brunch at their earliest convenience.   
I told them I’d arranged for Josh to come stay for a few days next month, to coincide with the full moon of course, but they weren’t to know that. I just said we’d had a good time and there were places in the city I’d like to show him. They seemed to like the idea of half a week on their own and were happy about it as long as I didn’t let him drink. I just hoped I didn’t have to tie him to something to stop him eating someone I loved.  
The full moon came and went and I wished we really had been having trips to the movies like I’d planned instead of spending a freezing evening sitting on the rock throne at the lupanar while all the other were’s went a-hunting and Josh and I sat like spare parts, unchanging and unable to join in. Josh felt the ripple of energy but once the weres had all bounded off to chase whatever they fancied we went home. The others could make their own way.  
Josh saw his zombie raising too. He agreed, it was much less messy and less stressful. He felt a tingle from that too, he said, but we were no further on finding out what his talent exactly was, time would tell and I’d left Josh to tell Dad that in his own way, one last little piece of sisterly revenge from a weekend that had probably changed us all, at least a little.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there we have it! Another one done!
> 
> Thank you to everyone who has read, left comments, kudos; it means a lot to me after having this as my private little hobby for so many years to see that people do actually want to read what I have written!
> 
> And finally, I am going to change my profile pic to me in costume as Anita! It's a fair few years old now (read that as A LOT) and my hair is about the same style but no longer, black, I now rock cerise pink curls instead! Anyway I hope you enjoy the pic, keep reading, commenting, and enjoying! I will see you soon with A Hit Before Dying. Yes, a hit...which let's face it, means EDWARD! Everyone's favourite preternatural hitman is BACK!


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